by Ahmad Jafaripanah

Created on: July 23, 2009   Last Updated: July 25, 2009

A computer is a device that has a great role to play in many areas of the community. Currently computers are part of most people's lives and many organisations. It seems that life without computers is becoming almost impossible.

However, computer facilities also may be misused in different ways. Misuse of computers can sometimes constitute computer crime. Computer crime simply means criminal activity where the main source is a computer or network. Currently the soaring of computer crime has added to society's concerns as it causes countless problems in the community and the number of victims of computer crimes is increasing rapidly. Today addressing this matter is of priority for the Law Enforcement Agencies with regard to finding effective ways to address and prevent such crimes.

The main issues to discuss in this assignment are problems encountered by law enforcement agencies in tackling such crimes, the courses of action that may be taken against such crimes and also if there are any implications regarding an individual's rights.

I will first briefly discuss about the types of computer crimes and current Acts regarding this matter in the UK.

Types of computer crimes

There are various definitions for the types of computer crimes according to the country/society they happen. The crimes with the greatest repercussions in any community are those that occur when a computer or network is part of the crime and where physical security, personal security, communications and data security or operational security is breached. However many other activities can be among these categories and it is not exclusive.

Crimes including fraud, viruses, pornography/illegal material, piracy, counterfeiting, forgery, harassment, blackmail, invasion of privacy, hacking, unsolicited bulk email (spam), sabotage, denial of service , unauthorised access , copyright infringement, atrocious /Obscene or offensive content , Cyber terrorism, sell illegal stuff/materials through encrypted e-mail or other Internet Technology are all included in the computer crime category.

Computer crime in the UK

According to most current reports computer crimes in the UK is rising. It seems that the true extent of computer crime is difficult to gauge and it is unknown. In 2006 the average number of incidents increased by 50% while the cost per incident increased 20%. This serious matter has had a great financial impact on businesses and it is stated that the total cost of such crime to UK

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