Over the last twenty years, a technological revolution has occurred as computers are now an essential element of our society. Large computers are used to track reservations for the airline industry, process billions of dollars for banks, manufacture products for industry, and conduct major business transactions. More and more people have computers at home and the office. This lends to greater accessibility for criminals to commit crimes and increases the number of computers to criminalize.
PROFILE OF CRIMINALS .
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People commit computer crimes because of society's declining ethical standards more than for any economic need. According tog the experts, gender is the only bias. The profile of the non-professional thieves crosses all races, age and economic strata. Computer criminals tend to be relatively honest people and hold a position of trust. Few would do anything to harm another human, and most do not consider their crime to be dishonest. Most are males though women have tended to be accomplices. Computer criminals are said to be "between the ages of 14-30, they are usually bright, eager, highly motivated, adventuresome, and willing to accept technical challenges."(Shannon, 16:2) "It is tempting to likes computer criminals to other criminals, ascribing characteristics somehow different from 'normal' individuals, but that is not the case."(Sharp, 18:3) It is believed that the computer criminal "often marches to the same drum as the potential victim but follows an unanticipated path."(Blumenthal, 1:2) There is no actual profile of a computer criminal because they range from many aspects of life, races, and ages.
DEFINITIONS OF CRIMES.
Definitions of computer crime have changed over the years as the number of users and misusers of computers has expanded. When computers were first introduced into business, computer crime was simply defined as a form of white-collar crime committed inside a computer system.