ABSTRACT
Advances in computer technology have ushered in the information age. As computers have become increasingly accessible and powerful, our reliance on them has grown immensely (Day, Janus, & Davis, 2005; see also Central Intelligence Agency, 2005). For all that computers offer, however, we may pay a high plice. Computer crime expert Donn Parker (1976, pp. 17-21) notes that computers can be related to criminal behavior in four different ways. In addition to being the "object of the [physical] attack" or used to produce information that is intended to "intimidate, deceive, or defraud victims" and thereby poses some sort of "symbolic" threat, computers sometimes are used as an "instrument" to assist in the commission of offenses that previously could be perpetrated only with direct access to the victim or victim's property. Computers also may play a role in "creating a unique environment in which unauthorized activities can occur, or where the computer creates unique forms of assets subject to abusive acts." Although the offenses that fall into this last category often bear a close resemblance to traditional forms of crime (e.g., theft, larceny, fraud, embezzlement, vandalism, extortion, and sabotage), they differ in terms of "the positions of the perpetrators, the environments of the act, the methods used in the abuse, and the form of assets." With computers, for example, it now is easier for very small groups or lone offenders to commit large-scale extortion and other crimes that traditionally have been difficult-if not impossible-to accomplish without the physical or tinancial backing of a larger organization (see Ratliff, 2005).
