Cyber Crimes

Introduction

At the dawn of the Information Technology era, computers were huge and heavy machines hardly fitting in a room, used for processing complex calculations. After the creation of ARPANET, a military-purpose-only network, and its evolution into Internet, computers were no longer stand-alone-machines. For the first time, personal computers were connected to a web of other systems.

The Internet breakthrough represented the technical factor that allowed for the emergence of cybercrime. Phenomena such as phishing, pharming, credit card fraud, identity theft, computer espionage, hacking, elaboration and diffusion of viruses and worms, to mention but a few, were completely non-existent before the arrival of the Internet.

Today computers manage and control every aspect of our life. They are often part of a network of other computers, such the ones belonging to industries or hospitals, which greatly rely on computerized equipment for diagnostics or treating diseases. For example, CAT scans and robots for remote surgical operations all rely on the Internet.

Computers are not self-programmed, neither they represent a hidden threat to communities; computer criminals are the real risk in a wired society. Attackers can be aggressive and destructive, computers are not.

What would happen if somebody were to violate these computer systems and take possession and control of the machine?

National stability and security can only be guaranteed by an accurate and safe computerized management of these critical sectors. An attack carried out against these targets through the Internet could be catastrophic, given that critical infrastructures represent a probable target for computer attacks, both in the daily lives of citizens and in situations of information warfare.

UNICRI is working on the field of cyber crime for an in-depth and better understanding of the phenomenon, in order to formulate ad hoc prevention policies, to develop security methodologies and techniques, and to strengthen the capacities of the actors involved in investigating and prosecuting cyber crimes.