From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cybercrime is a term used broadly to describe criminal activity in which computers or networks are a tool, a target, or a place of criminal activity. These categories are not exclusive and many activities can be characterized as falling in one or more categories.
Although the term cybercrime is usually restricted to describing criminal activity in which the computer or network is an essential part of the crime, this term is also used to include traditional crimes in which computers or networks are used to enable the illicit activity.
- Examples of cybercrime in which the computer or network is a tool of the criminal activity include spamming and certain intellectual property and criminal copyright crimes, particularly those facilitated through peer-to-peer networks.
- Examples of cybercrime in which the computer or network is a target of criminal activity include unauthorized access (i.e, defeating access controls), malicious code, and denial-of-service attacks.
- Examples of cybercrime in which the computer or network is a place of criminal activity include theft of service (in particular, telecom fraud) and certain financial frauds.
- Finally, examples of traditional crimes facilitated through the use of computers or networks include Nigerian 419 or other gullibility or social engineering frauds (e.g., "phishing"), identity theft, child pornography, online gambling, securities fraud, etc. Cyberstalking is an example of a traditional crime -- harassment -- that has taken a new form when facilitated through computer networks.
Another way to define cybercrime is simply as criminal activity involving the information technology infrastructure, including illegal access (unauthorized access), illegal interception (by technical means of non-public transmissions of computer data to, from or within a computer system), data interference (unauthorized damaging, deletion, deterioration, alteration or suppression of computer data), systems interference (interfering with the functioning of a computer system by inputting, transmitting, damaging, deleting, deteriorating, altering or suppressing computer data), misuse of devices, forgery (ID theft), and electronic fraud.
 Applicable laws
 United States
- ACCESS DEVICE FRAUD. 18 U.S.C. § 1029. Fraud and related activity in connection with access devices.
- COMPUTER FRAUD AND ABUSE ACT. 18 U.S.C. § 1030. Fraud and related activity in connection with computers.
- CAN-SPAM ACT. 18 U.S.C. § 1037. Fraud and related activity in connection with electronic mail.
- EXTORTION AND THREATS. 18 U.S.C. § 875. EXTORTION and THREATS. Interstate communications.
- IDENTITY THEFT AND ASSUMPTION DETERRENCE ACT of 1998. 18 U.S.C. § 1028. Fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents, authentication features, and information.
- WIRE FRAUD. 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Fraud by wire, radio, or television.
- No Electronic Theft ("NET") Act. 17 U.S.C. § 506. Criminal Offenses. (criminal copyright infringement)
- DMCA . 17 U.S.C. § 1201. Circumvention of copyright protection systems.
- Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2701, et seq. (STORED WIRE AND ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSACTIONAL RECORDS ACCESS)
- Trade Secrets Act. 18 U.S.C. § 1832. Theft of trade secrets.
- Economic Espionage Act. 18 U.S.C. § 1831. Economic Espionage.
 United Kingdom
- Cybercrime Act 2001 (Commonwealth)
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW): Part 6, ss 308-308I.
- Criminal Code (WA): Section 440a, Unlawful Operation of a Computer System
- Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime
- Global Survey of Cybercrime Law
- Unauthorized Access Penal Laws in 44 Countries
 Academic resources
- Cybercrimes.net and Cyb3rCrim3.org Susan W. Brenner
- Cybercrime - High Tech crime JISC Legal Information Service
- Criminal Justice Resources - Cybercrime
- Cybercrime NYLS
 Government resources
- Cybercrime.gov US Department of Justice CCIPS
- US CERT United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT)
- FBI Cyber Investigations Home Page
- US Secret Service Computer Fraud
- On Guard OnGuardOnline.gov provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.
- ID Theft one-stop national resource to learn about the crime of identity theft
- FindLaw Computer Crime
- RCMP Computer Crime Prevention Royal Canadian Mounted Police
 Commercial resources
- Annual e-Crime Conference : International Conference for Public & Private Security Specialists