the fun of it. Other elements of the hacker underworld include organized crime, hard core cybercrooks, extortionists, shady private investigators, credit card cheats, disgruntled ex employees, and assorted other sociopaths. These particular hackers have been known to use computers and telecommunications links to commit a variety of crimes. They may, for example, steal credit card numbers from credit bureaus and other sources. They then tap into bank networks and electronically transfer funds. Other items routinely stolen include valuable information, software, and phone service. As special agent, John Lewis of the Secret Service, has said, "We're seeing the merging of criminal computer activity with more traditional criminal activity" (Freedman 33). Such offenses may include extortion, sabotage, and worse.
In today's world, as society has become more and more dependent on computer systems, hacker intrusions have become increasingly capable of causing catastrophic damage (Rothfeder and Schwartz 72). Certain forms of hacking might actually represe
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