eared to be enormous. More than one quarter of the organizations responding to a survey reported known and verifiable losses due to computer crime.
The criminal activity associated with the use of computers is a multifaceted problem. First, the technology involved is so new and esoteric to most people and organizations that it is difficult to recognize a crime when it occurs. Second, many organizations are reluctant to report such crimes, for fear that they will become a target of other computer criminals, against which they feel that they have few defenses. Third, many, perhaps most, organizations do not know how to proceed with the establishment of effective computer security systems. Fourth, much of the technical hardware and software required for adequate computer security systems either is not available, or is priced too high for many organizations. Fifth, computer 3technology and techniques change so rapidly that an adequate security system today is an inadequate one tomorrow.
Known computer crime in the 1980s costs the American econ omy as much as $5 billion per year (Mano, 1984). Although com puter crime takes a variety of forms, the greatest losses are associated with the embezzlement of money and other property. Money, however, is the primary target of the embezzler.
Computer crime is made possible by the widespread use of computers and the application of computer technology in con temporary American society. Embezzlement with the aid of computers in the contemporary large business environment, thus, must be addressed, in great part, as a computer security problem.
The Congress and the states may enact laws to both dis courage and punish computer crimes and computer related crimes. In fact, many such laws have been enacted at both the federal and the state levels of government. Governments and organiza tions may develop policies designed to secure computer systems. Lastly, users and developers of...