CYBER CRIME

Cyber crime is any crime committed with the help of a computer. More specifically, it entails an ever-growing series of categories detailing specific wrongdoing facilitated by a computer. With the Internet attaining ever more critical importance in society and our use of computers evolving by the day, computer crimes constitute some of the most serious law enforcement concerns in existence. Several broad categories define most types of computer crime.

Identity Theft
Many cases of unauthorized computer use involve identity theft, in which the criminal pretends to be another person using data he has acquired illegally. It can often be devastating to the person whose identity is stolen: destroying good credit, ruining previously reputable businesses and in some cases even leading to criminal accusations. It can also facilitate additional forms of computer crime such as cyberstalking.
The penalties for this crime can include a fine, forfeiture of property and a maximum prison term of 15 years.


Denial of Service
Denial of service crimes target web servers, using electronic programs to overwhelm them with phony requests and cause the targeted computer to crash. Steps have been taken to limit such mischief, but they can cause serious harm when they get through: disrupting commerce and tying up vital servers for days on end.


Spam
Under the 2003 CAN-SPAM Act, it is illegal to send out large amounts of unsolicited mail, either online or materially. The penalties for sending spam can vary from a fine, imprisonment for up to 5 years or both.

Prevent from Cyber Crime

1.Make sure that you do online shopping on a secure website, like those with a url that starts with "https" and/or have a TRUSTe or VeriSign seal. If you don't see these anywhere on the site, you run the risk of submitting credit card information and other personal information to a site that may be a fraud.

2.Avoid getting taken in by common scams, such as foreign lotteries, phony sweepstakes and similar methods used by cyber criminals to get your personal information and money. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

3.Monitor the online activities of your children. They should only have access to a computer located in a central area of your home and you should regularly check all browser and email activity. A wise thing to do is to use parental control software that limits the types of sites the user can gain access to.

4.Be wary of providing personal information via a website you know nothing about, especially those that ask for your name, mailing address, bank account number or social security number.