Technologic Issues and Computer Misdeeds

Society gets more and more dependent on information technologies and systems. They are everywhere – banks, hospitals, and insurance companies, police, electro and atomic power stations, transport and etc. Computer based information systems are vulnerable of crimes and ill-using, breakdowns and misuses, human mistakes.

The regularly functioning of the information systems is of a special importance because the security in whole manufacturing sectors, safety of strategic objectives and human life depends on them. That is why a big attention is paid to information systems protection, that includes policy procedures and means of protection (files systems, data coding, password’s access control, audits control and etc.). The new technologies create also new crime opportunities – new products to be stolen, new ways of thefts, new methods to do harm to others. From the very beginning of computer implementation in commercial activities started their exploitation for illegal purposes. The computers connected in telecommunication networks and on-line systems are especially vulnerable because of multi access. At the end of 70^s and the beginning of 80^s of XX century when the computer crimes started, became clear that there were not such crimes according to legislation. Data, programs and computer services were not listed as an actual property and because of that violations of them were unpunished. At the end of 80^s years started a process of executing the legislations of every country in conformity with the changed realities in that sphere.

It’s accepted that the negative computer acts to be separated in crimes and abuses.

Computer crimes vary from using information technologies as criminal acts/money and thefts/ to computer activities/ thefts of computer and telecommunication services, unauthorized access and using of information system s theft, alteration and breakdown of data or programs, creation of viruses.

Computer misuses are activities, which are legal but not ethical. Today is not known the real scale of computer crimes and misuses and the damages they’ve caused. According to a survey of National Centre of Computer Crimes in the USA 36% of all crimes are money thefts, 34% – service thefts, 12% – information thefts, 8% – alteration of data, 10% – others.

As many people become perfect users of computers, as many grows the opportunity of computer misuses. Legislative initiative and creating of adequate laws are not adequate measure against computer crimes. Educational institutions and the whole society must be engaged in developing moral values in young people according to specific requirements of cyber environment in information society.

Conclusion

7. There is no conclusion to the text. Try and write your own one.

Teacher’s notes:

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Exercise 2: 1.f; 2.h; 3.a; 4.b; 5.d; 6.c; 7.e; 8j; 9g; 10l; 11k; 12i.

Exercise 3. 1T; 2T; 3F; 4.F; 5.T; 6.T.

Exercise 6: 1T; 2F; 3T; 4T; 5T; 6T; 7F; 8F; 9T.

Exercise 8. Key:1f; 2c; 3a; 4b; 5g; 6d; 7e.

Exercise 12. The message is: Well done. You have cracked this code.

Exercise 13. Suggested Answers: PIN number for credit cards, codes for alarm systems, passwords to get onto a computer, codes for padlocks, number codes for safes, number codes for door locks instead of keys.

Exercise 14. e. The FBI has created a computer program to give away to companies to help stop Internet crime.

Exercise 16. confidential,participate, launch, combat, anonymous, attacks, hostile, impact

Exercise 17. 1). True; 2). True; 3). False (They have almost tripled); 4). False (The FBI gives it away free);

5). True; 6). False (Companies only share what information they want to and they can remain anonymous);

7). True; 8). False (InfraGard began as a pilot (a trial) project in Cleveland before it was used in other FBI offices); 9). True; 10). True; 11). False (Only one zombie overloaded Yahoo! with data).

Exercise 18. (Mistakes are shown in bold type. Please refer to today's article for the correct version.)

"That is the key to all of this, that companies can shared only as much information as they want," Vatis said. Participation in the program is free, Vatis said, but companies must undergo a criminal background check before they is admitted. The FBI is currently investigated 1,200 cyber crime case, up from 450 in early 1998, said Michael Vatis, head of the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Centre.

Vatis said the InfraGard system was use last fall to alerting companies to the existence of "zombies," or hostile computer programs, on their servers. Participated companies can remains anonymous if they desires, and is not required to sharing confidential information.

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