Essay/Term paper: Computer crime: the crime of the future

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Information Technology

Computer Crime: The Crime of the Future


English II
6 April 1996

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.

Works Cited

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 "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