Rise of Computer Crimes

Rise in Computer Crime
Name:
Institution
Rise in Computer Crime
Due to the increased threat of computer crime attributed to proliferation of computer in the world and their ubiquitous attribute they are steadily acquiring, I resolved to research into the issue and delve into the menace. The research tends to explicate on the extent of the threat and expose complacency of institutions to tackle the crime and proposing solutions. When computers were at their infancy and their programs containing numerous bugs that needed to be resolved by programmers, hackers were promoted to assist detect these bugs and security loopholes for their solving. Hacking became a competition that awarded accolades to the best hackers. When computer networks expanded and organizations and military institutes embraced computing, hacking incidences shifted from mere expertise and program testing to exploitation and victimization. Nonetheless, during this time, hacking menace was not considered a threat and was prospected to dissipate with increased security in computer programs (Cross Domain Solutions, 2014).
Contrary to this belief, hacking and infiltration of computer systems with malicious software inclined and have been wreaking havoc to modern times. Currently, as computers become a big investment, persons with improper motives are using their hacking skills to exploit loopholes for their benefit. E-commerce has become among the major targets of computer crime and persons attempt to access credit card numbers. Access to credit card is done with ill motives, in that sense, to acquire moneys in order to benefit themselves while causing pain to their victims.
Cybercrime has also been used to pose a security threat to nations with espionage of information and deliberate sabotage of security infrastructure that have ubiquitous computing (Brenner, 2010). Computer crime is now categorized as a major threat to national security in numerous states and governments and institutions recognize that fact and are investing in cyber security.
Computer crime is made major scourge since the criminals are not easily traced due to their remote location and use of computer botnets. Tactics of committing cyber crime offenses are also evolving rapidly and the laws being enacted are ostensibly not catching up to the pace of the cyber criminals. It has been shown that most institutions are lagging behind in instituting cyber security standards in their premises, augmenting the problem. Policies enacted in institutions to curb the menace are either not stringent enough or are not strictly adhered to. The lack of transparency in the rule that distinguishes the demarcation that discriminates online crime from other offline crimes is perceived to be providing an ambiguity that is exploited by criminals (McGuire & Dowling, 2013). The low occurrence of reporting of cybercrime despite the numerous incidences of computer crime is attributed to lack of specific law by stakeholders that guide on reporting to the authorities and laws guiding on their action.
The international stakeholders across different nations that deal with cyber security have yet to homogenize their laws to cater for internationally organized computer and cybercrime, which offers no respite to ...