Unit5CrimeinCyberspace..doc

Crime in Cyberspace Summary:Some thoughts about crime prevention in cyberspace. Transcript:Robyn Williams: Last week, Ockhams Razor was presented by the Director of the Australian Institute of Criminology in Canberra, who reflected on his experience of being burgled, and how to design homes and businesses to avoid such an experience.This week we look at theft outside such physical structures: being robbed or otherwise interfered with in cyberspace. Theres plenty of risk, but what can you do about it? This is the Director of Research at the Institute, Peter Grabosky. Peter Grabosky: It has almost become trite to suggest that we are entering an age as significant and profound in its impact as was the Industrial Revolution. When you think about it, the convergence of computing and communications has already affected most, if not all, of the major institutions of society. It has created unprecedented opportunities for education, health services, recreation and commerce. Unfortunately, it has also created unprecedented opportunities for crime. It seems to me that identifying these vulnerabilities, and mobilising appropriate countermeasures will be one of the great challenges of the next century. This challenge is so great that it defies the capacity of law enforcement alone to control. Consequently, new forms of policing, involving the harnessing of non-government resources, will become essential. Given the fact that cyberspace knows no boundaries, and that computer crime often transcends national frontiers, effective countermeasures will also require a degree of international co-operation which is without precedent.Let me describe nine types of crime involving information systems as instruments and/or as targets.First is Theft of Information Services.The means of stealing telecommunications services are diverse, and include the cloning of cellular phones, counterfeiting of telephone cards, and unauthorised access to an organisations telephone switchboard. In o