Criminals in Computer Related Crimes /
V. Golubev.
Golubev, V.
Полный текст документа:
Criminals in Computer
Related Crimes
Issues concerning
criminals in field of computer technologies have been already examined in works
of foreign and domestic authors: N. Akhtyrskaya, P. Andrushko, V. Vekhov, P.
Bilenchuk, V. Kozlov, B. Krylov, G. Levytskiy and other. At the same time
subjective personal properties of persons which take part in computer related
crimes are not enough examined in criminology, criminalistics, criminal
psychology, theories of secret search actions. In this view we consider
development of criminalistic description of "computer criminals" is getting
certain theoretical and practical value.
The problem of criminalistic
description of "computer criminal" requires both examination at the level of
aggregate actual data estimation in criminology and criminalistics and statistic
data analysis, which characterize the object of research, criminal legal
description of personality of cyber criminal.
The criminological examination
of criminals includes research of the whole complex problem of personality and
his activity, causal communications, causal complexes, motivation of individual
criminal conduct. Except other mentioned traditional features, criminologists
mark out objective features, which represent social position and role of
personality, its activity and social role field, and also subjective features
which fix motivational sphere; values and normative description of consciousness
[1], while at the analysis of criminal legal description they emphasize data on
the character and reason of crime, forms of the organized criminal activity,
types of participants and their roles, previous conviction, etc.
Undoubtedly, criteria of criminalistic classification of criminal are
assigned to assist systematization of computer crimes. Thus it is possible to
solve the common tasks of investigation and counteraction to such crimes by
using typical descriptions of separate groups of criminals. For the solution of
this question it is expedient to use criminological typology of criminals.
Criminologists consider typology as deep description of different groups of
criminals, in which they conventionally select features-displays and
features-reasons which provide substantial character of dividing total into
groups [2].
In criminology the following division into groups of features is
the most spread:
• social-demographic;
• criminal legal;
•
psychological features;
• physical (biological) features.
These features
are general for the examination of criminal. Establishment of the mentioned
circumstances will allow to get complete description of computer criminal.
However that is not enough for receiving criminalistic data on internal life of
members of the organized criminal group, their typological features. These
questions are yet not enough explored in criminalistics and theory of secret
search activity.
The circle of computer criminals is not limited. Anyone can
be a criminal: a head of enterprise, system administrator, manager and ordinary
user of computer system.
A criminal is the minimum total of features,
characterizing a person committed a crime, it is necessary for making this
person responsible. Personality qualities of a person and environment in the
co-operation consistently exactly determine motivation of criminal activity
decision-making in sphere of computer technologies. Motivation includes a
process of emergence, forming of reason and purpose for criminal conduct. It is
necessary to examine the reason of criminal conduct as compulsion, that was
formed under influence of social environment and personal vital experience,
which is the internal direct reason of criminal activity, and expresses attitude
of a person to the object of criminal activity [3].
The current criminal law
of Ukraine
provides for three groups of features, which characterize the criminal:
1.
Individual (citizens of Ukraine,
foreigners, persons without citizenship - Articles 4, 5 of the Criminal
Code).
2. Criminal personality - the person attains age set by criminal law.
3. Criminal sanity of a person - ability to assess and manage own actions.
All features of criminal as element of crime according to the criminal legal
assignment are divided into general and special. General, obligatory for all
crime components, is the age of criminal responsibility and sanity, set by law.
Special, additional features peculiar only to some of crime components are the
optional features. Social and political description of a person also can be the
feature of criminal as element of crime, but not direct, it is displayed in
concrete properties and acts – repetition of crime commitment, previous
conviction, etc.
"Professional" habits and handwriting of criminals become
apparent in certain ways, methods and techniques of crime commitment. The traces
left at the place of crime testify the features of their social psychological
portrait: age, sex, knowledge, occupation, experience, etc. Forming of standard
models system of different criminal categories allows to optimize the exposure
of persons circle, among which search of the criminal will be the most probable.
Collected in the process of investigation data on personality of criminal, his
criminal conduct and guilt, creates actual base for taking well-founded legal
decisions according to his criminal proceeding.
Great number of people is
involved in electronic criminality - from highly skilled specialists up to
beginners. Offenders can be engaged in different spheres of activity and have
different level of training. But crimes are carried out more often by persons
who have high enough qualification, especially, when the question is about
illegal access to information in computers, systems or networks, as similar
requires difficult technological and information measures. Therefore, the more
difficult and more "skilful" method of illegal access is, the narrower is the
circle of probable criminals.
All of these methods can be divided into two
large groups:
1. Persons which have labour or other business relations with a
victim.
2. Persons not connected by business relations with a victim.
The
first group covers employees abusing official position. They are clerks of
various types, workers of security and supervisory services, engineering
personnel. According to our research, a part of programmers, engineers,
operators and other workers of organization, which illegally access computer
system made 41,9%. Such access is accomplished by other workers almost twice
less (20,2%). 8,6% of cases are for such offences accomplished by the former
workers of organization [4]. The potential threat is represented by officials of
other organizations which are engaged in service and exploitation of systems.
Foreign experts divide personnel that represent certain danger into
categories according to spheres of their activity:
1. Operational crimes,
accomplished by operators of computers, peripheral units of information input
and attendants of telecommunication.
2. Crimes usually committed with help of
software by persons that usually use it, by system and application programmers,
well-trained users.
3. Hardware of computer systems is often exposed to
crimes committed by: system administrators, engineers of electronics and
telecommunications.
4. Employees engaged in management, control of computer
network and operators of databases that work with software.
5. Such threat
can be also represented by different clerks, workers of security service,
workers who control computer operation.
The special danger is represented by
specialists in case of their plot with the heads of departments and services of
institution, and also with the organized criminal groups, as in such cases the
caused harm and weight of consequences are much greater.
For example, almost
90% of abuses in field of finances are connected to violations in sphere of
information security, they take place with direct or indirect participation of
current or former employees of banks. Thus the most skilled often choose a
criminal path, owning full rights in automated bank systems, they are system
administrators and other employees of departments of automation in banks [5].
Persons, which possess essential knowledge in sphere of computer
technologies in most cases they purpose mercenary motives belong to the second
group. Also the same group covers professionals which perceive security means of
computer systems as challenge to their skills.
Most computer crimes are
accomplished intentionally. Software developers and specialists of security
services practically reduced possibility of casual or careless harm for
interests of users.
According to expert estimation of Interpol, statistic
interrelation of different reasons for computer crimes is the following:
•
mercenary motives - 66%;
• political reasons (terrorism, political actions) -
17%;
• research curiosity - 7%;
• hooligan reasons and naughtiness - 5%;
• revenge - 4%.
According to expert estimation [6] the age of 33% of
criminals at the moment of committing a crime did not exceed 20 years, 54% of
them were from 20 to 40 years, 13% - older than 40 years old. That is to say,
research disproves the existing opinion that computer criminals are mainly 13-20
years old.
The number of computer crimes committed by men is 5 times
greater. 53,7% of criminals have higher or incomplete higher technical
education, and 19,2% [7] of them have other higher or incomplete higher
education. Lately, the number of women engaged in these crimes is increasing. It
is concerned with women’s occupations related to workplaces equipped by
automated computer systems, women’s oriented positions (secretary, accountant,
economist, manager, cashier, inspector, etc).
Criminological researches
testify that:
• 52% of the established criminals had special training in
field of automated computer information processing;
• 97% of public
authorities and institutions employees, that used computer systems and
information technologies in their everyday life;
• 30% of them had direct
relation to computer means exploitation.
Commitment of crimes by employees of
organizations, which hold responsible positions, exists too. Experts note that
more than 25% of computer crimes are committed by heads of organizations. Modern
leaders, as a rule, being specialists of high level, possessing sufficient
computer and professional knowledge, have access to information of wide use and
can make orders, but are not directly responsible for work of computer systems.
Share of crimes which consist in distribution of harmful computer software,
makes 19,7% from the general amount of computer crimes. Distribution of the
harmful software is mainly carried out during realization of pirate software.
Such releases usually contain different sets of software designed for “breaking”
computer systems, and also harmful software - software bookmarks and viruses.
According to Article 20 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine a criminal [8],
definition provided for by part 1 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code of
Ukraine, is any individual which at the moment of committing a crime attained
age of sixteen years. It is general criminal legal personality. The obligatory
condition of making the criminal responsible for the committed socially
dangerous and illegal action is its sanity – ability to understand social
significance of own actions and to manage them. Irresponsible persons are not
subject to criminal responsibility (Article 21 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
It is possible to foresee that the decrease of age for criminal
responsibility for crimes in sphere of computer technologies will take place in
future. It is dictated by more frequent offences related to illegal access to
computer information that are performed by minor persons which did not attain
age of criminal responsibility.
Finally it is necessary to note that the
conducted sociological and criminological researches illustrate few categories
of criminals committing illegal intervention in work of computers, systems and
computer networks:
1. General subject:
• any responsible person, reached
16 years
• any person working in automated information system or network, or
using their services (legal user), but having no right to work with information
of certain category, also outsider (non-user).
2. Persons which illegally
access computer information being in group by previous plot or organized group.
It theory of criminal law and judicial practice have different points of
view on concept of the group crime [9].
We consider that only actions of
those persons who directly took part in illegal access to computer information
as accomplices of crime can be characterized by “group of previous plot” feature
(they are engaged entirely or partly in committing a crime). Thus at least two
of accomplices are to meet the common requirements of criminals, that is: to be
responsible (or limitedly responsible) and reach age of criminal responsibility
set by a law.
[1] Criminology, edited by A. Dolgovoy,
Moscow: IT IS, 1999,
p.280.
[2] Typology and Classification in Sociological Research,
Moscow: IT IS, 1982,
p.15.
[3] K. Igoshev, Criminal Personality Typology and Criminal Conduct
Motivation, Horky: 1974, p. 66.
[4] V. Golubev, A. Golovin, Problems of
Investigating Computer Crimes,
https://www.crime-research.org/library/New_g.htm
[5] V. Golubev, Investigating
Computer crime / Monograph - Zaporozhye: University of Humanities “ZISMG”,
2002.
[6] P. Bilenchuk, B. Romanuk, V. Tsimbaluk, Computer Criminality,
textbook, Kiev: Atika, 2002,
p.123.
[7] V. Golubev, Criminological Description of Computer Crime,
Entrepreneurship, economy and law, 2002, p.11.
[8] N. Ivanov, Group
Criminality: Contents and Legal Regulation, State and Law, 1996,
p.9.
Источник информации:
www.crime-research.org ( https://www.crime-research.org/eng/library/Golubev_nov1.html )
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