Types of Computer Crimes

Computer crime in today’s world has become more common than in the past. Everywhere you go there is always some sort of Internet access. For instance most restaurants have Wi-Fi for their customers to connect. Cellular networks also provide Internet access away from home making computer criminals be able to work wherever. Having the Internet at the tips of your fingers makes it easier for today’s criminals to commit a crime. There are three main categories in which computer crimes are categorized.
The first category is “Target” crimes, which means crimes in which the computer is the target. This type of computer crime includes offenses such as theft of intellectual property and theft of marketing information. There are many crimes under this category, for instance Techno Vandalism occurs when unauthorized access to a computer results in damaged files or programs. Another crime that relates to this category is Techno-trespass, which means that the offender is basically walking around exploring the computer; in cases like this the intruder just looks at a file violating the owners privacy. In all of these crimes, the offender uses the computer to obtain information or to damage programs. The offender commits the crime by becoming a "super user." This label means that the offender accesses the operating program by imitating as the system's manager, this way the intruder has access to virtually every file on the computer.
The second category for computer crimes is “means”. This refers to the diversion of a lawfully possessed item that is an instrument to facilitate committing a crime. What the criminal does is basically introduce a new code to manipulate the computers processes, therefor that is a crime. Some different types of crimes that fall in this category include fraudulent use of ATM cards and bank accounts, credit card fraud, and telecommunications fraud. This type of crime is very common across the United States. Telecommunications fraud is one