Computer Crime and Computer Fraud

Throughout the past several decades there have been numerous advances in electronic resources. Technologies such as cellular phones, pagers, home computers, the Internet, websites, and palm pilots have added another dimension to crime. That dimension involves increased methods at criminals’ disposal to commit certain crimes along with increased locations in which crimes can occur. For example, property crimes no longer have to involve face-to-face contact between the criminal and the victim. In the past, property crimes usually involved a criminal breaking into a victim’s house or grabbing a purse from a person on the street. Today, criminals can commit property crimes from the comfort of their own homes against people who live on the other side of the world through the use of computers.Computer crime poses a daunting task for law enforcement agencies because they are highly technical crimes. Law enforcement agencies must have individuals trained in computer science or computer forensics in order to properly investigate computer crimes. Additionally, states must update and create legislation, which prohibits computer crimes and outlines appropriate punishments for those crimes. Computer crimes will likely become more frequent with the advent of further technologies. It is important that civilians, law enforcement officials, and other members of the criminal justice system are knowledgeable about computer crimes in order to reduce the threat they pose.