Computer fraud is the use of computers, the Internet, Internet devices, and Internet services to defraud people or organizations of resources. In the United States, computer fraud is specifically proscribed by the

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (CFAA) is a United States cybersecurity bill that was enacted in 1986 as an amendment to existing computer fraud law (), which had been included in the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. Prior ...

(CFAA), which criminalizes computer-related acts under federal jurisdiction and directly combats the insufficiencies of existing laws. Types of computer fraud include: *Distributing hoax emails *Accessing unauthorized computers *Engaging in data mining via

spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is any malware that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user by violating their privacy, endangering their device's securit ...

and

malware Malware (a portmanteau of ''malicious software'')Tahir, R. (2018)A study on malware and malware detection techniques . ''International Journal of Education and Management Engineering'', ''8''(2), 20. is any software intentionally designed to caus ...

* Hacking into computer systems to illegally access personal information, such as credit cards or Social Security numbers *Sending

computer viruses A computer virus is a type of malware that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code into those programs. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" wit ...

or worms with the intent to destroy or ruin another party's computer or system.

Phishing Phishing is a form of social engineering and a scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as viruses, worms, adware, or ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticate ...

, social engineering,

viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are found in almo ...

, and

DDoS In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyberattack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host co ...

attacks are fairly well-known tactics used to disrupt service or gain access to another's network, but this list is not inclusive.

Notable incidents

;The Melissa Virus/Worm The Melissa Virus appeared on thousands of email systems on March 26, 1999. It was disguised in each instance as an important message from a colleague or friend. The

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

was designed to send an infected email to the first 50 email addresses on the users’

Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software system from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft 365 software suites. Primarily popular as an email client for businesses, Outlook also includes functions such as Calendari ...

address book. Each infected computer would infect 50 additional computers, which in turn would infect another 50 computers. The virus proliferated rapidly and exponentially, resulting in substantial interruption and impairment of public communications and services. Many system administrators had to disconnect their computer systems from the Internet. Companies such as

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

and

Lucent Technologies Lucent Technologies, Inc. was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey. It was established on September 30, 1996, through the div ...

were forced to shut down their email gateways due to the vast amount of emails the virus was generating. The Melissa virus is the most costly outbreak to date, causing more than $400 million in damages to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n businesses. After an investigation conducted by multiple branches of government and law enforcement, the Melissa Virus/Worm was attributed to David L. Smith, a 32-year-old

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

programmer, who was eventually charged with computer fraud.Johanna Granvill
“Dot.Con: The Dangers of Cyber Crime and a Call for Proactive Solutions,”
''Australian Journal of Politics and History'', vol. 49, no. 1. (Winter 2003), pp. 102-109. http://www.softpanorama.org/Malware/Malware_defense_history/Ch05_macro_viruses/Zoo/melissa.shtml Smith was one of the first people ever to be prosecuted for the act of writing a virus. He was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison and was fined $5,000. In addition, he was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after completion of his prison sentence. The investigation involved members of

State Police High Technology Crime Unit, the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI), the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, and the

Defense Criminal Investigative Service The Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) is the Criminal investigation, criminal investigative arm of the Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General. Background On ...

External links

Information Security & Computer Fraud Cases & Investigations

Union Bank of SwitzerlandCornell Law: Computer and Internet Fraud

References

{{Information security Internet fraud Information technology audit

Notable incidents

See also

External links

References