Chapter Overview

        The first electronic computer was completed in 1945. The first long distance electronic communication on the Internet was sent in 1969. For a few years after this monumental communication event, computers and networks were safely enclosed in major university campuses and corporate research parks. Today, however, we have restructured our "information society" to depend on computer and networks in ways that no one could have predicted at the birth of computing or even the much later birth of large networks. In just a few short years, computers have become common fixtures of daily life. Students can register for or drop classes in real time from their homes using a computer. We can withdraw money from our bank accounts at any time by using an automatic teller machine (ATM). Stock quotes, flight schedules, reference libraries, on-line purchasing, the latest news, and uncounted other resources are available with a few clicks of the mouse.

        Being "connected" is now less about politics and more about being on-line to the World Wide Web; a global network of computers, through service providers such as America On-Line (AOL) and Prodigy or through a number of local, national, and international Internet service providers (ISPs) which provide access to the amazing arrays of information and databases.

        The advance in computer and Internet technology, however, has provided new opportunities for criminal enterprise. The discovery of computer crime committed both inside businesses, corporations and network systems and through various means across the global network become more prevalent each day. The purpose of this chapter is to inform the reader on many issues concerning and related to computer crime. The first section of the chapter presents information on various types of computer crime that ranges from network intrusion and data altering to using the computer as the facilitator to commit crimes. Next, methods such as discovery tools and delivery vehicles for viruses and worms used to commit computer crime are addressed. Profiles of the hacker and computer criminal are also discussed. The next section highlights the investigation of computer crime and includes crime scene techniques and the application of digital forensic analysis. Approaches to preventing computer crime conclude the chapter.