Technology and Crime

While technology does not fundamentally change the nature of crime, it allows criminals to operate in ways that are more secure, more efficient and more clandestine than ever before. The Internet is an expanding information source, communications medium and business tool. Although employed primarily for legitimate purposes, it does not discriminate between lawful and unlawful users and it is ideally suited to such criminal activity as fraud, drug trafficking and the distribution of child pornography.

The annual cost of technological crime in Canada is currently estimated at nearly $1 billion. This figure does not account for the inestimable value of lost information in a world that is becoming increasingly dependent on technology.

The Internet

Even relatively unsophisticated hackers can employ any of the thousands of hacker tools available to break into computers and to read, steal or alter information. These hackers can be members of, or solicited by, organized criminal groups. There are malicious hacker tools that will allow a remote user to control or administer a computer over the Internet without the knowledge of the computer's owner.

Products designed to hide a user's identity and vital information proliferate on the Internet. Steganography, meanwhile, is the process of embedding files within files. Within the context of computers, text, image, voice or video files can be hidden behind an image. Internet "paging systems" notify a user that another user has logged on. Users can then chat, send messages and exchange files in real time. All of these tools are accessible on the Internet at no cost. While they do much to ensure the privacy of communications between lawful users of the Internet, they appear with increasing frequency in criminal investigations.

The Canadian Association of Internet Service Providers (CAIP) is a voluntary association of Internet Providers (ISP) in Canada. The CAIP voluntary code of conduct promotes the cooperation of ISPs with government officials and law enforcement authorities to clarify the different functions performed by Internet companies. As well, the code promotes the privacy of ISP users, including the disclosure of information to law enforcement authorities only as required by law.

Internet Fraud

Securities fraud on the Internet is increasing. The value of securities can be influenced by rumours circulated on web sites and in chat rooms. Since Internet trading sites exist without brokers to monitor and control such rumours, purchasers are vulnerable to fraud. Unscrupulous trading sites often persuade buyers to purchase stock whose value has been inflated. In some cases, the buyers may actually be induced to sell valuable stock in exchange for dormant, or even non-existent, stock.

Internet auction sites act as a vending location for buyers and traders and claim they are not responsible for the merchandise posted on their sites. In a number of cases, pirated software has been sold from auction sites. As well, clients have been billed for goods purchased but have never received their merchandise.

Globally, Canada has become a strong promoter of electronic commerce. Internet fraud threatens to compromise the integrity of legitimate sites as well as overall consumer confidence in electronic commerce.

Jurisdiction

Computer and Internet data are accessed from networks globally, but are generally stored on a server in a specific jurisdiction. This has sparked a number of legal debates over access to the information and the status of data that are considered criminal in the receiving jurisdiction, but not in the jurisdiction where they are stored.
 

A malicious hacker will "tunnel" through as many networks as possible to hide his trail and usually crosses a number of jurisdictional boundaries. Thus, the technological nightmare of tracing the hacker is exacerbated by the jurisdictional nightmare of ensuring that the trace is lawful.

Often, data must be captured in real-time or they are lost to the investigator. In other cases, simply locating the originator of a web site or e-mail address can be time consuming and labour intensive. This requires cooperation between law enforcement agencies, technologically knowledgeable judges to authorize search warrants and Internet Service Providers who store, among other things, web site and e-mail administrative logs.

These issues are being addressed in both national and international fora, however, developing codes of conduct, communication networks, international agreements and laws is a complex and painstaking task.
 

Outlook Hacker tools and cryptographic programs will become more user-friendly and insidious, facilitating criminal activity.    Jurisdictional issues will continue to represent a serious handicap to complex computer crime investigations.

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