Cyber Crimes: An Overview
Phyllis Babin, Christy Bourgeois, Kristin Dupuy, and Rebecca Templet
Department of Education
Southeastern Louisiana University,
Hammond, LA 70402
ABSTRACT
Cyber crime is a serious threat that continues to plague the Internet. It is defined
as any criminal act involving a computer or network. Every year billions of dollars are
lost due to cyber crimes, and it is one of the fastest growing areas of crime. This is due in
part to the speed, convenience, and anonymity technology provides in order to commit
such a wide variety of criminal activities. Although there are many types of cyber
crimes, the top five crimes include malware, identity theft, cyberstalking, child
pornography, and spam. This paper will provide a concise explanation of cyber crimes.
It will focus on the five most common cyber crimes and address various methods to
protect against such crimes. The paper concludes with a discussion about ????? (maybe advances in cyber crimes)????.

Keywords: cyber crime, malware, identity theft, cyber stalking, spam,
online predators, firewall
WHAT IS CYBER CRIME
As Internet usage continues to increase, crimes using the Internet become more
prevalent. Cyber crime is any criminal act that involves a computer and/or network.
Cyber crime can occur in several different forms, and the top five computer crimes
include: malware, identity theft, cyberstalking, child pornography, and spam (7). The
average cost of cyber crimes to organizations is almost $12 million in a ten-month period,
which is a 78 percent increase from four years ago (3). United States incurs the highest
average cost of cyber crimes compared to United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Japan,
and France. Although cyber crimes are serious and often cause substantial monetary
damage, many victims, including most victimized businesses, do not report offenses to
law enforcement (8).
MALWARE
IDENTITY THEFT & FRAUD
Identity theft occurs when someone steals a victim’s personal information and
uses it without his/her permission to commit fraud or other crimes. Identity theft includes
tax-related identity theft, child identity theft, and medical identity theft. The Federal
Trade Commission estimates that nine million Americans are victims of identity theft
every year (10). The most common type of identity theft is credit-card fraud rather than
full-blown identity theft. Credit-card fraud occurs when a thief uses someone else’s card
to make purchases. More serious cases of identity theft include using other’s personal
information (social security number) to open accounts and/or take out loans which can
wreak havoc on personal finances, credit history, and can take time, money, and patience
to resolve (2). According to a national survey of prosecutors, credit card fraud and
identity theft are the most frequently prosecuted cyber crimes (8).
There are many things that one can do in order to protect themselves against
identity theft and/or fraud. Guarding your information online is especially important to
prevent theft or fraud. One way that criminals try to obtain personal information is
through a technique known as phishing. Phishing is a trick in which spam or pop-ups
mimic legitimate banks or businesses to obtain personal information, which can be used
to fraudulently access your accounts (10). Another key to protection is regularly
monitoring bank statements, credit card statements, and credit reports. There are also
many businesses and/or firms that provide identity theft protection at a cost (i.e.,
LifeLock and TrustedID). Federal law limits your liability in the event of theft or fraud
but depends on how quickly you report the loss or theft (2).
CYBER STALKING
SPAM
Spam is any unsolicited email in which the sender is attempting to gain an
advantage and which the recipient neither asked for nor wanted. The Controlling the
Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003 was the
first-ever federal protection against unwanted commercial emails (6). Most opponents of
the CAN-SPAM Act argue that it imposes on freedom of speech; regardless, most
jurisdictions have some form of legislation against spam emailing. Like identity theft and
fraud, there are programs available to protect against spam. MailWasher, Spam Sleuth,
and Spam Subtract Pro are some of the most reputable programs, but there are many
other spam-fighting software programs available. Most Internet service providers (ISP)
offer built-in spam filters without any additional cost. Therefore, spam can be stopped
before it ever reaches your inbox.
ONLINE PREDATORS/CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
FIREWALL
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES