Example Information Systems Essay

Under what conditions would a corporate victim of computer crime pursue their attackers to the full extent of their abilities and what is the downside to such action.

In today's modern organisations, computer security is aprocess that demands constant vigilance. Organisations are heavily invested insecurity technologies. Unfortunately, too many organisations sit back and relaxonce they have added the latest software and hardware for access controls,encryption, anti-virus, and firewalls (Flynn & Kahn, p. 153). Security is important for anysystem but becomes increasingly important as the web spreads in scopegeographically and across areas of our life (Aron & Sampler p. 69).

One of the most common computer crimes made againstcorporations and organizations is the theft of trade secrets (BBCNews). According to the by report byBBCNews, virtually all organizations have been attacked in one way or theother. These attacks are in the form of computer viruses, website defacements,denial of service attack, and theft of propriety information. It is oftencalled cyber vandalism (Sneider and Perry, p. 161).

In recent years, there have been a large number ofattacks on websites by hackers who are angry with the owner of the website.Though it is not considered to be serious enough to merit serious attention,these forms of attacks are nevertheless damaging to the credibility ofcorporate ICT infrastructures to handle security breaches and maintain theconfidentiality of their clients' information. Damages have largely beencounted economical terms rather than on social or emotional aspects.

Conditions:

Corporate victims of corporate computer attacks canresort to all legal remedies available especially pertaining to provisions andguidelines of their country's e-commerce law. A student in NortheasternUniversity in Boston was charged with using a hijacked corporate Internetaccount to attack NASA and Department of Defense computers and damage serversof an ISP. The defendant was able to gain illegal access to several computerseither causing substantial business loss. After a careful investigation andmeticulous examination of the hacker's trail, the attacker, who was eventuallycaught, was identified as Ikenna Iffih. If convicted, he could face a maximumof 10 years in jail and a fine of $250,000 (O'Brien, p. 483).

Telia is an example of a company which pursued theirattackers to the full extent of their abilities but in a more radical way.According to the electronic magazine Z Central, Telia made some sort ofsurveillance through a net surveillance unit to spy on hackers andwould-be-hackers (Arnrup, n.d).The mission of the unit was to gather information about subscribers suspectedto be hackers and eventually prosecute those responsible.

It is often easy to rely on these laws for ourprotection. However, as technology evolves, so does the sophistication andcomplexities of computer attacks. Our laws are not able to adjust quicklyenough to meet these kinds of situations. Corporate victims may eventually endup on the losing side because of they have to use more and more of theirresources and expertise in order to get justice.

In such instances, corporate victims can pursue theirattackers to the full extent of their abilities if there are major damages totheir economic and political survival. Ideally, they shouldn't let these kindsof attacks go unpunished because it would only embolden their attackers in thefuture. However, if organisations are constantly under threat from thesepeople, then it is time to do some action and make them pay. Other victims maynot be interested in further pursuing their attackers because they think thatdoing so would only eat up their resources, time, and efforts. Some just try tocharge it to experience and move on.

Downside

It is often difficult toenforce e-commerce laws and other laws related to cybercrime because of thenature of the Internet. It is easy to use computer networks and the Internet tocommit fraud and crime because the Internet is borderless and most of its usershide under a cloak of anonymity. Sometimes, pursuing your attackers entailscrossing into different geo-political and judicial systems of differentcountries which have different e-commerce laws.

According to Daniel Arnrup, the procedure done by Teliais illegal under certain conditions. These acts actually encourage totalitarian social control of the enterprise. Italso infringes on the freedom and privacy of subscribers.

Efforts to punish those held responsible for thesecrimes have largely been held in abeyance to the age, nature, behavior, andorigin of the attacker. Most of them are between the ages 12 and 25 years ofage and have little assets that can satisfy a judgment (Standler, 2002). Sometimes, the law cannotdistinguish which are truly considered as cyber crimes and which are not. Thismakes it more difficult for corporate victims to seek redress and ask fordamages.