The fast growth of technology is creating more and more threats to our society in a number of ways. It is threatening individuals by letting cybercriminals gain access to sensitive information that can cause harm to innocent people. It is also creating threats to our younger generations that are unable to cope with the high emotions of social media sites. Individuals are being lured by fake profiles or fake people who would do harm to them. Computer crimes are on the rise. Law enforcements and agencies are doing everything they can to prevent the spread of these crimes. They have created special task divisions to protect our society better. New laws have been put to place to protect U.S citizens better. The four categories of crime: the computer as a target, the computer as an instrument, the computer as incidental to a crime, and crimes associated with prevalence of computer show that everyone can fall victim to some cybercrime.
The computer as a target
The computer as a target in cybercrime is what today’s society fears. Examples that are considered the computer being a target are denial of service attack, data alteration, and intrusion.
Denial of service is when cyber criminals deny users to access to a machine or network. An example of this is when Yahoo was hacked into, and users could not open the website for a couple of hours until Yahoo had fixed the issue. Yahoo’s denial of service attack is a great example because it showed society that even big names are susceptible to being attacked. I believe intrusion is what fears most of today’s society. Hackers try to locate sensitive information on other computers. Over the years, technology has evolved, and there are so many different ways to pay for items. Online shopping is a big hit, but many people have concerns to whether the site that they are paying is secured. There has been an instance where PayPal did have security issues. Customers who used PayPal felt uneasy. I’m sure that a lot of their customers changed their information just to be on the safe side. When computers are used as a

target, it is usually to gain information. It can make a statement saying no one can be totally protected, and Yahoo’s website is an example. No one is too big nor small, to be hacked.
Computer as an instrument
Using computers as an instrument is a growing trend. As the younger generations are growing up and using technology more on a daily basis, the threats are getting more severe.
Examples of computers as an instrument are theft, fraud, threats and harassments, and cyber bullying. Theft is something that has been around for many years. When it comes to computer crimes, theft can mean a variety of ways information gets taken. One way is theft of service.
When a user wants to use a network or any service, they must pay for it, or it is considered theft.
Another example of theft is when you deny the user of tangible assets. Criminals use multiple transactions by rounding to the nearest cent and send the profits to another account. The victims are necessarily not aware of this act. So many times this goes unreported. There is a growing trend where teens are using social media sites to target others. Cyberbullying is a huge growing trend among teens. If parents, law officials and schools do not take a stand to prevent bullying, this can get out of hand. People assume that since you’re behind a computer that it is easy to get away with threats and harassing people online. The truth is there is a paper trail that can easily be tracked down to who it was.
Computer as incidental to a crime
Besides always hearing about cyber bullying on the news are and new case of intrusions on the news, using a computer as incidental to a crime is probably most heard of. There is reasoning behind it is because we always hear about child pornography and people luring the victims through Facebook, Craigslist or any other social media site where you can meet people.

Examples of computers being an incidental to a crime are Money laundering, child pornography, luring victims, and business related transactions.
With how twisted this world can be, society always hears about the how child pornography is a big deal. Pedophiles have websites that they exchange images with each other and this is truly disturbing. Law enforcements are constantly cracking down on websites and other ways child pornography is being sold. I have read stories that this is how sometimes children are kidnap by these pedophiles and later found killed. Age isn’t really a factor. It can be anyone under the age of 17. It is sad to say that, but it is the truth. Another growing trend is these people lure their victims claiming that they are younger to befriend them and meet up with them to do harm. This why parents need to know what their children are doing on the computer and who they are talking to. The way technology is changing and evolving, more and younger kids are on social media sites and talking to strangers that they do not know, and it is a scary thought.
Thankful law enforcement is cracking down on the potential threat. It isn’t easy to track down these criminals, but they are doing everything they possibly can to take control of this threat.
Crimes associated with prevalence of computer
When it comes to explaining what is an example of crimes associated with prevalence of computer, the first thought is identity theft. At one point identity theft was the one thing everyone heard about and it still frighten society. Another example of crimes associated with prevalence of computer is counterfeiting, property violations and corporate offenses, just to name a few others.
Identity theft is a huge issue and always will be one. Society is afraid of the damages it can cause to them if their identity is stolen. The economy isn’t stable enough for victims to easily

recover from this crime. If people are not conscious of their sensitive information so much damage can happen. It pays to keep track of bank accounts and credit scores. Reason being you can see what debt you have and track it before it gets out of hand. The whole process of fixing an issue with identity theft is a very aggravating and stressful procedure. If it is caught early enough, fixing the issue would be a lot smoother. Majority of the time it is difficult to track down the criminal but some of these criminals are not intelligent and will strike again with the same information. That is why it is important to track incorrect information if you see on you statement or any other accounts people have. The sooner, the better so investigators can apprehend the criminal and justice can be served.
The greatest threat at the present time
In an industry that I currently work for, I constantly see a growing trend of teenagers coming in for self-harming themselves. Some of these teens are anywhere from the ages of 11-17 years of age. Many are bright and have a bright future ahead of them. I believe the greatest threat in this present time is cyber bullying that is categorized as a crime where the computer is used as an instrument. Cyber bullying is a growing concern for parents nowadays. One reason cyber bullying is get out of hand is because school officials are not taking a serious stand when a case is brought up to them. They tend to dismiss it and not take a strict action like they claim to be.
There has been a case where parents brought the issue to school officials, and they have brushed it off as if it didn’t matter. That should not be the case what so ever. School officials, parents and law enforcement agencies need to work together to prevent more children falling victims and ending their life. Teens are in a vulnerable time frame in their life and everything influences the way they think. Teens often think they can handle the situation themselves and not realize they cannot handle it. They are haunted by the bullying and they then cause self-harm to themselves.

Sometimes it leads to a fatal death. Arthur Sam Laird wrote an article showing a statistic about cyberbullying. Here is some statistic from the article Sam Laird wrote:
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42% of teenagers with tech access report being cyberbullied over the past year
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Of the 69% of teens that own their own computer or smart phone, 80% are active on social media
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The average teen sends 60 texts per day - reducing face-to-face communication skills •
Teen texting rate is DOUBLE the adult texting rate
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Girls 14-17 text more - 100 per day
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7.5 million Facebook users are under 13 years old
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81% of teens say bullying online is easier to get away with
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From 1985-2007 internet and tech consumption grew dramatically and so did suicide rates.
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90% of teens who witness online bullying say they ignore it.
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Only 2 out of 5 victims will tell their parents.
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Three million kids per month are absent from school due to bullying
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20% of kid’s cyberbullied think about suicide, and 1 in 10 attempt it.
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4500 commit suicide each year

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Suicide is the No. 3 killer of teens in the US. (Car accidents #1, Homicide #2)
When looking at this statistic is a bit disturbing and heartbreaking that kids feel the need to end their life because of bullying. With the right education and making sure, the adults take a stand with online bullying, I believe there is a great chance that we can reduce these statistics.
The Cyberbully Hotline Website stated “It is clear that many kids cannot cope with the social and emotional demands of social media. The technology is not a problem as much as the immaturity of the user.” The quote gives a good perspective on how kids are not mature enough to be using online social media sites. They are unable to cope with things on there. One story shows that it’s not just teens that are immature with internet access. It can be adults as well.
Megan’s Story is about a teen that gets cyber bullied by an adult who creates a fake profile and later the teen commits suicide. The story went national. This is why parents need to pay attention to what their kids are doing online. People created fake profiles so they can easily taunt others, whether if they are kids or not. Teens are more affected with cyberbullying, but adults get bullied as well. Everyone needs to come together to help better educate and protect our youth.
Law Enforcements, Government and Court Systems
What law enforcement and court systems can do for crimes when the computer is used as an instrument like cyberbullying isto enforce these laws. There are laws in placed in each state in the U.S for cyberbullying. How these states enforce these laws and regulations depend on the state. They need to take a better stand when handling crimes when a computer is an instrument. I know they have new divisions that work with media sites when it comes to gang members posting status in regards to shootings, drugs or weapons online, and they have caught many criminals this way. I believe that the way things are looking out for our youth; they should have a

department that takes care of reported cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a type of harassment and threat. It should be handled appropriately.Even though minors do a lot of the crime, they should get some punishment. It is sad to see some of these people who are caught cyberbullying get a slap on the hand. The punishment should be greater so that there’s some closure for families who have lost their children to cyber bullying.
Conclusion
There are many types of crimes through computers. All affect a different spectrum of individuals. Anyone can be affected, and it doesn’t matter their age. Identity theft can happen to anyone. You need to be aware of who you are giving your information to. Beware that any site big or small can get hacked into just like what happen to Yahoo.com. If you’re using social media sites, be careful who you are talking to because this is where computers as an incidental to a crime happen. Individuals are luring their victims. Many people go missing because they are not careful of the dangers that hide behind computers. Technology is growing rapidly which means there is going to be more threats. Individuals need to be informed regarding safety measures and be educated on how to protect themselves. The four categories of crime: the computer as a target, the computer as an instrument, the computer as incidental to a crime, and crimes associated with prevalence of computer show that everyone can fall victim to some
cybercrime.