Cyber crime on the rise

Crime takes different forms and is not the type where you will know crime when you see it. Criminals have slowly been becoming more covert with their operations leaving victims naïve about what is really happening. This crime will take the form of theft, fraud, identity theft, and stealing of intellectual property. What makes these crimes unique is that people might actually never know crime occurred or the victim might have handed the information over to the criminal never knowing their intent. These crimes are known as cybercrime or computer crime and they are becoming prevalent in the 21st century by taking crime new levels.

The definition of cybercrime according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a crime that is committed from a computer or from the internet in which criminals use for financial gain, reputation, or cause fear (2010). With cyber crime the computer can be used as a tool to commit the crime, but computers can also be the target of the crime. Also, with the popularity of smart phones, tablets, and portable computers then victims can be targeted from literally anywhere in the world at any moment in our always-connected society. The crimes committed include identity theft, computer/network intrusion, and fraud. However, these activities can be used to promote other illicit crimes such as sex-trafficking a nd illegal drug trading. One author even says due to the growing problem of cybercrime there should be an agency that specializes in it, “The U.S. should consider forming an agency dedicated to fighting cyber-crime just as it did when it addressed other types of crime with the creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration…(Leithauser, 2012)”. Cyber-crime is a growing problem and cyber-crime agency ...

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... this, then results will show a decrease in financial losses regarding cyber crime.

The United States has gone towards a technologically advanced society since the 1980s, but it seems like technology took off quicker than the cyber security did. Threats can come from anywhere, whether it is from domestic or international criminals. Threats to computer security are on the rise, but funding for programs to counter these threats is not adequate. With the rise of cyber crime in a technological based nation it becomes apparent that security is no longer a want, but a grave need. Without a rise in security then attackers could cripple the technology that is essential to our survival, but we also need to counteract people that target our citizens with fraud additionally. Crime is quickly going away from mostly in person acts to being driven by those armed with computers.