This document discusses various forms of computer misuse and abuse, including hacking, viruses, copyright infringement, identity theft, and cyberbullying. It provides examples of each type of misuse and outlines laws and steps that have been taken to address this issue, such as the Computer Misuse Act of 1990, the Data Protection Act, and copyright law. Enforcement has included closing abusive chat rooms, reducing email spamming, and punishing spammers with fines. Overall the document covers the definition, examples, legal aspects, and solutions regarding computer and internet misuse and abuse.

1. Misuse of Computer

2. • Computers are a central part of everyday life.
• People use them to keep records, purchase items, balance checkbooks, and find
entertainment.
• Computers make lives easier with their ability to find information quickly.
• Communications for personal and business uses are faster and more efficient than ever
before, and with all the positive aspects of computer use come the negatives.
• Misuse of computer technology is a deviant activity with possible legal ramifications for the
perpetrators.
IMPORTANCE OF
COMPUTER

3. • Businesses, government and academic institutions are increasingly reliant on the Internet for
their day-to-day business, while consumers are using e-commerce more and more for
purchasing goods and services.
• This implies ever-increasing opportunities for hackers and virus writers to disrupt the
activities of their fellow citizens.
• Hacking first became a prominent issue in the 1980's, with the publicity achieved by exploits
such as the Internet Worm, but at that time it was not clear how law enforcement agencies
could best tackle this new threat.
• Hackers were not causing physical damage to anyone's property; if they refrained from
modifying files but simply logged on to a system without permission, it was hard to see what
crime they could be committing under existing law apart from the theft of a negligible amount
of electricity.
COMPUTER MISUSE

4. • An incident that many people might not think of as computer abuse is creating a fake social
media account.
• If the social media service’s terms and conditions require users to provide accurate
information about their identities when creating an account, they could be prosecuted under
the CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act).
• Another example of the unintended consequences of expanding the Computer Fraud and
Abuse Act was the threat of a 35-year prison sentence for internet activist Aaron Swartz for
allegedly downloading millions of academic articles to which access was restricted through a
subscription service, probably with the intent to freely distribute them.
EXAMPLES OF MISUSE

5. 1. Career and Social Networking :
Career networking websites allow professionals to post profiles describing their work
experience and current position. Using career networking sites encourages communication
between professionals within the same and related industries. Human resource departments
use these sites to recruit new employees. Social networking sites are geared toward a person's
social life. These sites make it easy to stay in touch with friends and family that move away.
Users can post pictures, videos and some sites even allow blogging. Many people use popular
social networking sites like Facebook to promote their own business.
WAYS IN WHICH COMPUTER CAN
CAUSE HARM

6. 2. Entertainment :
Computers are vehicles for many forms of entertainment. The Internet features movies, video
games and music and all are available for downloading. In the absence of the Internet, games
can be purchased at retail stores and installed on the computer. Movies can be viewed from a
computer that has the proper software and online gaming sites allow users to play with other
members globally. Some websites allow members to upload videos of funny situations and
events.
WAYS IN WHICH COMPUTER CAN
CAUSE HARM

7. 3. Cybercrime
White-collar crimes can involve the misuse of computers. Economic white-collar crimes include
embezzlement, fraud, racketeering, and money laundering. White-collar crime has risen with the
ease of conducting fraudulent business transactions at the great distances computers provide.
Other computer misusers, called hackers, create and spread viruses via the Internet that crash
systems and steal personal information. Bank account and credit histories are then
compromised with the use of this information.
WAYS IN WHICH COMPUTER CAN
CAUSE HARM

8. 4. Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is the act by a minor of directing verbal assaults and/or death threats towards
another minor. Cyberbullying-by-proxy is the act of a minor aiding another with the bullying of a
target. Cyberbullying has legal ramifications, and depending on the child's age, they will be
charged with a misdemeanor or an act of juvenile delinquency. More serious state and federal
charges will result if their actions include hacking or stealing personal information. Schools have
recently implemented programs to teach students of the effects and dangers of cyberbullying
WAYS IN WHICH COMPUTER CAN
CAUSE HARM

9. Misuse of computers and communications systems comes in several forms:
Hacking
Hacking is where an unauthorised person uses a network, Internet or modemconnection to gain
access past security passwords or other security to see data stored on another computer.
Hackers sometimes use software hacking tools and often target, for example, particular sites on
the Internet.
Viruses
Viruses are relatively simple programs written by people and designed to cause nuisance or
damage to computers or their files.
TYPES OF COMPUTER MISUSE

10. Data misuse and unauthorised transfer or copying
Copying and illegal transfer of data is very quick and easy using online computers and large
storage devices such as hard disks, memory sticks and DVDs. Personal data, company
research and written work, such as novels and textbooks, cannot be copied without the
copyright holder's permission.
TYPES OF COMPUTER MISUSE

11. Copying and distributing copyrighted software, music and film
This includes copying music and movies with computer equipment and distributing it on the
Internet without the copyright holder's permission. This is a widespread misuse of both
computers and the Internet that breaks copyright regulations.
TYPES OF COMPUTER MISUSE

12. Email and chat room abuses
Internet services such as chat rooms and email have been the subject of many well-publicised
cases of impersonation and deception where people who are online pretend to have a different
identity. Chat rooms have been used to spread rumours about well known personalities. A
growing area of abuse of the Internet is email spam, where millions of emails are sent to
advertise both legal and illegal products and services.
TYPES OF COMPUTER MISUSE

13. Identity and financial abuses
This topic includes misuse of stolen or fictional credit card numbers to obtain goods or services
on the Internet, and use of computers in financial frauds. These can range from complex well
thought out deceptions to simple uses such as printing counterfeit money with colour printers.
TYPES OF COMPUTER MISUSE

14. The Computer Misuse Act (1990)
This was passed by Parliament and made three new offences:
• Accessing computer material without permission, e.g. looking at someone else's files.
• Accessing computer material without permission with intent to commit further criminal
offences, e.g. hacking into the bank's computer and wanting to increase the amount in your
account.
• Altering computer data without permission, e.g. writing a virus to destroy someone else's
data, or actually changing the money in an account.
STEPS TAKEN AGAINST THIS ABUSE

15. The Data Protection Act
This was introduced to regulate personal data. This helps to provide protection against the
abuse of personal information. Find out more about the Data Protection Act.
Copyright law
This provides protection to the owners of the copyright and covers the copying of written,
musical, or film works using computers. FAST is the industry body which is against software
theft. You can find out more about it in the Copyright section.
There have been cases where laws such as Copyright have been used to crack down on file
sharing websites or individuals who store and illegally distribute copyrighted material, eg music.
There is a massive problem with many people around the world obtaining copyrighted material
illegally.
STEPS TAKEN AGAINST THIS ABUSE

16. STEPS TAKEN AGAINST THIS ABUSE
Close down chat rooms
• Some chat rooms have been closed down due to abuses, especially where
children are vulnerable.
• Some have moderators who help to prevent abuses. Advice about sensible use is
important; especially to never give personal contact details or arrange meetings
without extreme caution.

17. Reduce email spamming
This may be reduced by:
• Never replying to anonymous emails.
• Setting filters on email accounts.
• Reporting spammers to ISPs, who are beginning to get together to blacklist email abusers.
• Governments passing laws to punish persistent spammers with heavy fines.
STEPS TAKEN AGAINST THIS ABUSE

18. The End