•Recognizing the potential impact of computer crime, the legal system, and industry are trying to speed up precautionary measures.
•There are a growing concern that the media is glorifying the illegal entry and use of computer system by overzealous hackers.
•These “electronic vandals” have tapped into everything from local credit agencies to top-secret defense systems.
•The evidence of unlawful entry, perhaps a revised record or access during nonoperating hours, is called a footprint. Some malicious hackers leave much more than a footprint – they infect the computer system with a virus.
•A virus is a program that literally “infects” other programs and data bases. Viral programs are written with malicious intent and are loaded to the computer system of ansuspecting victim.
•The motives of those who would infect a systems with a virus run from electronic vandalism to revenge to terrorism. There is no monetary reward, only the “satisfaction” of knowing that their efforts have been very costly to individual, companies, or governments.
•A few hackers and computer professionals have chosen computer crime as a profession.
