Vladimir Golubev
Crime-research.org
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, http://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
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