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Areas Classified As "Cybercrime".
The various types of Cybercrime which can be committed with or against information systems can be varied and can include such "traditional" illegalities as theft, fraud and extortion. The spectrum can then expand to include such activities as cyberstalking, piracy and theft of information services. As well as the cyber crime that is outlined in "Cyber Crime and Information Warfare", the following is a summary of four of the criminal activities involving the use of computers:.
a) Piracy & Fraud.
"A recent e-mail scam mailed to America Online subscribers reveals the extent of the growing sophistication of "Cybercriminals." AOL subscribers were sent a link to a Web page, where they were asked to enter their name, address, home phone number, and credit card number. This information, which was requested in the name of helping AOL fix its busy-signal problem, was being used by a cyber thief trying to commit credit card fraud.".
(http://www.infotech.siu.edu/csc/policies/hustlers.htm).
As technology improves, the application of fraudulent activities also increases. Such activities can be varied from gaining unauthorised details such as personal and financial information and credit card details, to classic pyramid schemes. Other such fraudulent activities have been outlined in "Cyber Crime and Information Warfare" where the emphasis has been focused on Sales and Investment fraud and Electronic Funds Transfer fraud. This article explains that with the increasing technologies in electronic commerce alone, the opportunity for Cybercrime to exploit the industry has resulted in over 5% of industry turnover being lost to fraud. .
Within this wave of information technology, the digital aspect of multimedia, sound, and graphic software has also increased dramatically. As a result of the increase in communication that is available, an increase in piracy has developed. This increase has been estimated at losses of between US15 billion to US 17 billion dollars a year.