Computer Crime Essay, Research Paper

Computer Crime:

The Crime of the Future

English II

6 April 1996

Computer Crimes

Explosive growth in the computer industry over the last decade has made new

technologies cheaper and simpler for the average person to own. As a result, computers

play an intricate part in our daily lives. The areas in which computers affect life are

infinite, ranging from entertainment to finances. If anything were to happen to these

precious devices, the world would be chaotic.

There is a type of person that thrives on chaos, that is the malevolent hacker.

Some hackers act on revenge or just impersonal mischievousness. But whatever their

motives, their deeds can be destructive to a person’s computer. An attack by a hacker not

only affects the victim, but others as well.

One case involving a notorious hacker named Kevin Mitnick did just that. Mitnick

is a very intelligent man. He is 31 and pending trial for computer fraud. When he was a

teenager, he used his knowledge of computers to break into the North American Defense

Command computer. Had he not been stopped, he could have caused some real national

defense problems for the United States (Sussman 66).

Other “small time” hackers affect people just as much by stealing or giving away

copyrighted software, which causes the prices of software to increase, thus increasing the

price the public must pay for the programs.

Companies reason that if they have a program that can be copied onto a disc then

they will lose a certain amount of their profit. People will copy it and give to friends or

pass it around on the Internet. To compensate, they will raise the price of disc programs.

CD Rom programs cost more to make but are about the same price as disc games.

Companies don’t loose money on them because it is difficult to copy a CD Rom and

impossible to transmit over the Internet (Facts on File #28599 1).

One company in particular, American On-line, has been hit hard by hackers. The

feud started when a disgruntled ex-employee used his inside experience to help fellow

hackers disrupt services offered by AOL (Alan 37). His advice became popular and he

spawned a program called AOHell. This program, in turn, created many copycats. They

all portray their creators as gangsters, and one of the creator’s names is “Da Chronic.”

Many also feature short clips of rap music (Cook 36).

These programs make it easy for people with a little hacker knowledge to disrupt

AOL. These activities include gaining access to free accounts, gaining access to other

people’s credit card numbers, and destroying chat rooms. The following is an excerpt

from a letter from the creator of AOHell to a user:

What is AOHell? AOHell is an AOL for Windows add-on, which allows you to do

many things. AOHell allows you to download for free, talk using other people’s screen

names, steal passwords and credit card information, and much more. AOHell is basically

an anarchy program designed to help you, the user, and destroy AOL, the enemy:

No matter what AOL says to you, nor what even Steve Case* himself may say

about AOHell, don’t be too quick to judge. America On-line may say anything to get you

to stop using AOHell. They may say it’s a virus, they may say it’ll cancel your account,

hell, they’ve even tried to suggest it may steal your password and send it to the author.

None of this is true however. Free AOL does not interest me, as I have many ways to

accomplish that. You should always keep that in mind when you hear such rumors. It’s

AOL and their sick pedophiles I’m against, not you, the user. You are the ones who are

making it possible for me to achieve my goal, which is to make AOL a virtual Hell. Now

stop reading, and go destroy a Mac room with the bot or something. (Cook 36)

The quote above was in defence of AOHell which has received a lot of negative

feedback. The loopholes for hackers and freeloaders may be closing, however. America

On-line is reluctant to discuss specifics of its counterattack for fear of giving miscreants

warning. However, many software trading rooms are being shut down almost as soon as

they are formed. Others are often visited by ‘narcs’ posing as traders. New accounts

started with phony credit cards are being cut off more promptly, and other card-

verification schemes are in place.

AOL has now developed the ability to resurrect a screen name that had been

deleted by the hackers, and is rumored to have call-tracing technologies in the works

(Alan 37).

Hacking is not just a problem in America. All across the world hackers plague

anyone they can, and they’re getting better at it. In Europe they’re known as “Phreakers”

(technologically sophisticated young computer hackers). These self-proclaimed Phreakers

have made their presence felt all the way up the political ladder. They managed to steal

personal expense accounts of the European Commission President Jacques. They revealed

some embarrassing overspending (PC Weekly 12).

Was this stealing justified? Was it done to protect the public from wasting their

tax money? The European judicial system did not think so. The accused were sentenced

to six months in prison (PC Weekly 12).

This punishment might seem harsh, but not to Bill Clinton. He has appointed a

task force to try to enforce laws on the Internet. The new laws would try to strengthen

copyright laws by monitoring information being transferred and if a violation occurred, a

$5,000 fine would be implemented (Facts On File #28599 1).

Clinton thinks this will protect businesses as well as consumers by keeping

copyrighted material at a reasonable price. The only exception would be that libraries

would have the right to copy “for purposes of preservation” (Phelps 75).

Some people view hackers as the “Robin Hoods” of the Internet. They wrestle

with the heavyweight businesses to try to gain leverage for individuals. But in doing so

they make businesses increase prices to pay for security. It is an ongoing cycle.

Many anti-hacking groups think they are gaining some ground on hackers by

making more sophisticated software. But like a virus that becomes immune too quickly,

the hackers find another way. The loopholes of the hacker are infinite. Just as one cannot

leave their shadow behind on a sunny day, the hacker will be around as long as there is

something to hack.

Alan Robert, “AOL’s Piracy Woes: Attack and Counterattack”

Macworld 16 June 1995: 37-38

“Computers: On-line Copyright Protection Proposed”

Facts on File World News Digest 14 September 1995 28599

“Data Busters”

PC Weekly 8 August 1995: 12-14

Phelps, Alan Abstract “On-line Slime”

PC Novice 1995 74-75 Pro Quest, DiscII

Sussman, Vic: “Hacker Nabbed”

Us News & World Report 27 Febuary 1995 66-67

Cook, William “Aol’s battle with AOHell”

Internet Underground 22 April 1995: 36-37