Cyber Crime

Running head : Cyber Crime

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Cyber crime

The full realization of the potential benefits brought by internet in the global community is greatly sabotaged by cyber crime activities Cyber crime is increasingly becoming a major concern across the social scientific , economic , and law enforcement fronts of the global community . Although the actual economic impact of cyber crimes is hard to qualify , it is estimated that the American nation looses over 100 million on internet related crimes every year . There are numerous types

of cyber crimes (Laser , 2009 . These includes identity theft , fraud hacking , cyber terrorism , malicious computer programs , web posting of offensive materials , and drug trafficking among others

Due to the negative social and economic impact of cyber crime activities , governments and other stakeholders have engaged in a number of prevention measures . They encompass creation of public awareness to enable internet users to identify , report , and /or avoid being victims of such crimes (McDowell , 2008 . Software scientists have also engaged in developing effective computer and network security software . In addition to this , there are laws such as the Intellectual Property Law Electronic Communication Privacy Law , and the 2001 Patriotic Act serve an important role in detecting and prosecuting cyber crime offenders This essay seeks to discuss malicious computer programs (also know as malware ) as a form of cyber crime , its characteristics and how it is prevented , detected , and /or prosecuted

Malicious computer programs are defined as coded programs , which serve either to corrupt the effective functioning...