COMPUTER SECURITY

There is a rising trend for organizations to consider computer security more seriously than they have done in the past. As a result, organizations have begun to integrate computer security into their Information Resource Plans. The increased attention to computer security is not without substantial purpose. The United States Department of Justice (Bureau of Statistics, 1988, p. 10) reports that, over the past decade, the use of computers and advanced communication techniques for business and industrial purposes has radically altered the traditional means by which business is conducted. These changes have led to the creation of an environment in which white-collar abuse of fiscal trust and responsibility can result in unusually large losses to both organizations, their clients, and individual victims. The three areas in which such activity has most occurred entail the violation of centrally stored information, the manipulation of computer programs/software, and the manipulation of computer operations. Consider that the centralized storage of individually identifiable information has created new opportunities for white-collar crimes by means of involving the unlawful acquisition and disclosure of data. Further, the manipulation of computer programs/software can conceal the conduct of illegal transactions and prevent, or at least postpone, discovery of the loss by a victim or financial institution. As well, the

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ponent, at $1.0 billion on an annual basis, versus credit card fraud, at $0.1 billion annually (p. 6). In addition, embezzlement accounts for a total of $7 billion; insurance fraud for $2.0 billion and securities thefts and frauds for another $4.0 billion (p. 6). The total annual cost of white-collar crime exceeds $41.78 billion (p. 6). The United States Department of Justice (Bureau of Statistics, 1988, p. 10) reports that thousands of computer crimes have been committed by means of electronic funds transfer in the banking industry. During 1980, approximately $117 trillion were electronically transferred among various financial institutions by means of about 60 million wire transfer transactions. This represents an increase of more than 170% over the value of transactions during 1976. In 1983, about $262 billion were processed through automated teller machines in about 2.7 billion transactions. This represents an increase of almost 650% over the value of funds and an increase of more than 170% over the number of automated teller machine transactions during 1982. The losses to banks due to the perpetration of white-collar crime using automatic teller machine fraud during 1983 are estimated to be between $70-$100 million.
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Approximate Word count = 4271
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)

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