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This article is presented by:
Raji, Ayodele Kamaldeen
Department of Computer Science, Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin
Computer Crimes: Control, Prevention, and Detection to Organizations in Nigeria
ABSTRACT
The last half century or more witness some major progress in the development of various technologies in almost all areas of human endeavour in both developed and developing countries. Specifically, Information Technology has advanced so well that almost everyone anywhere uses computers for their day-to-day activities. Today's computers are becoming more powerful, smaller, cheaper, and more user-friendly as technology improves. As they have improved, computers have proliferated in our society, our businesses, and our personal lives. Most modern businesses and governments depend on their computer systems to support their operations, from personnel files to financial management. In addition, computers played an important role in computational research such as Bio-Informatics, Differential Calculus, and Evolutionary Genetics. In today's environment, most businesses and government processes could not survive without the computer-especially e-mail or totally web-based businesses. However, an organization that uses computer for its daily transactions is liable to be the target of computer crimes. This article evaluates the concepts of computer crimes, detection and the controls. An understanding of various types of computer-related crimes is given. The paper finally exposed us to dangers it poses to organizations, factors that encourage it, and recommending possible controls and preventive measures against computer crimes.
INTRODUCTION
The world we are in today is all about Information Technology (IT) because we are in the age of Information Technology and the people with the right information, with proper way of disseminate this information and processing them is considered as the most successful. Information technology is the transfer of information using telecommunication and micro-based computer system. Nowadays, the computer has replaced manual records, and the fraudulent input document has been substituted by manipulating data held in a computer system. This manipulation does not need to be sophisticated. Computers have become the mainstay of business and government processes. Business has been using them for years and in most countries, there are drives towards electronic or joined up government. This is to allow the people to access government services from their desktop in their own home.
According to Oxford Advance Learners dictionary (2001), crime is the activities that involve breaking the law or illegal act or activities that can be punished by law. Computer crime has been defined as the act of stealing or misusing the computer hardware or software (Olawepo 1999: 48). The larger the organization, the more they make use of computers for their day-to-day activities and more likely it is that someone is out there to commit a crime. Computer crimes were committed for many reasons, some which are rational, others of which may make no sense to the observer. There are those who will steal under the best of employment circumstances. Other would not steal even if they were the worst treated employees in the world. This is dependent on individual character. Olawepo (1999) observed that it is against the backdrop that management of computerized organizations should address all the energy at disposal, the issue of detection and preventing computer related crimes.
Finally, the growing danger from crimes committed against computers, or against information store on computers, is beginning to claim attention in national capitals. The existing laws are likely to be unenforceable against such crimes in most countries around the world, especially Nigeria. This lack of legal protection means that businesses and governments must rely solely on technical measures to protect themselves from those who would steal, deny access to, or destroy valuable information.
