A Latency of Computer Crimes
Date: April 05, 2004Source: Computer Crime Research Center
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... recording. So, computer crimes in banking may be classified as “crimes in the banking” and not as “computer crimes”.
The following situation is also a typical feature of computer crimes’ latency. When law enforcement, having detected the attempt of intrusion in the database of the state authority, asks Internet service providers to find and establish the criminal. In such case, ISPs often just disconnect this subscriber from their network. Thus concealment of crimes happens, and measures to make offenders liable become impossible. As a result, it creates conditions of impunity and possibility of committing repeated crimes.
The fourth kind of latent crime is not so spread. It happens when the information on crime become known to the law enforcement officer but he/she, for some reason, does not register it. Officers do it with this or that purpose, for example, in order to manipulate with statistics and to show a visibility of well-doing in the area, the city, the region. Sometimes officers do it for mercenary purpose or for other vested interest.
Some authors mark out other reasons of latency. In particular V. Tsymbaluck point out a cognitive aspect (psychological, perceptual, informational) and a related to this aspect entropy of the personnel (uncertainty due to lack of knowledge) that maintains a technical protection of information in automated (computer) systems and lots of lawyers, including practicing specialists of law enforcement, that face computer crimes in their everyday work [8].
In order to get the situation in the whole, we need to examine data of the official statistics, and also we need to use information from the alternative sources. These sources are as following: monitoring of victims (interrogation), offenders’ self reports, conclusions, expert estimation and public opinion on the state of criminality and law enforcement activity in the whole. International experience shows that the overview of criminal victimization allows to learn real scales of criminality, reveal its latent share and concealed criminal victimization of the population, criminogenic situation, define and activate measures to strengthen fight against criminality and counteraction to criminal victimization of the population [9].
Thus, we suggest the following ways to overcome the latency of these crimes:
- sociological methods and techniques to estimate and reveal latent crimes in the sphere of high technologies: mass interrogation of the population, questioning, expert estimations, content analysis of mass media materials;
- economic legal methods based on the analysis of all economic indexes of the companies;
- overcoming legal nihilism of management in institutions, enterprises, organizations or individuals by coverage of computer crime problems in mass media. It is necessary to draw public attention to possible negative consequences introduced by latent IT crimes;
- maintaining lawfulness of the system of criminal law in the country, rising the level of trust to this system;
- reconsideration of statistical approach to examining computer crimes that undoubtedly will cause lowering of the latency of IT crimes;
- rising of law enforcement efficiency, demands to level of skills of law enforcement officers. In this view, it is necessary to introduce special trainings to learn problems of computer crimes in juridical high schools of Ukraine;
- development of a criminal description of crimes in the sphere of high technologies; - further creating of methodical recommendations to questions of revealing, disclosing and investigating computer crimes because the ability to clear and to reveal crimes undoubtedly lead to the decrease of the given crimes latency.
Practical significance of this article is that it is considering problems of computer crimes latency, solution of which is an efficient way to fight computer crimes and to prevent great material losses, conditioned by these crimes.
[1] V. Butuzov, M. Gutsaluk, V. Tsymbaluck, Counteraction to IT crimes, Police of Ukraine, 2002, ยน 9, p.20.
[2] M. Gutsaluk, Coordination of fighting IT crimes, Law of Ukraine, 2002, #5, p.123.
[3] D. Aikov, K. Syeigyer, U. Fonstorkh, Computer crimes. A guide to fighting computer crimes, Moscow: Mir, 1999, p. 5.
[4] www.riganet.com/modules.php
[5] B. Skorodumov, IT Security: a human factor, Economy and industry, 1999, #3.
[6] P. Berzin, Features of thefts using bank payment cards, Actual problems of modern criminalistics, Materials of the scientific practical conference, Simferopol: Dolya, 2002, Part 1, p.211-212.
[7] O. Baranov, Criminological problems of computer crimes, IT and protection of information, A collection of scientific works, Zaporizhzhya: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine High School of Law, 1998, Part 2, p.66.
[8] V. Tsymbaluck, Criminological cognitology of examining a latency of computer crimes, A state and regions, Serie: Law, 2001, #4, p. 77.
[9] O. Dzhuzha, D. Golosnichenko, D. Kiriluck, Sources of criminological information on the state of criminality in Ukraine, Law of Ukraine, 2003, #12, p. 68-69.
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| 2005-09-02 03:30:57 - Very nice blog. Gergana |
| 2004-04-28 20:38:01 - That's cool Me |
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