Computer crime as a form of threat caused by the progress in information technology
Svetlana Nikoloska · Security Dialogues /Безбедносни дијалози · 2017
In the history of mankind there is no other technological invention with a wider range of application or of greater influence on changing human lives as it is the invention of computers and the corresponding development of computer systems and networks.The benefits of the rapid development of the information technology, which are pretty obvious, can be viewed in the area of collecting, storing, processing and presenting of information, making the information a strategic resource which, in a postindustrial era, can be proved as valuable and influential to a extent that is considered as capital in the industrial era.Thanks to this, the contemporary information and communication system, if used in a proper manner, can increase the efficiency of a large variety of activities.187 The increase of efficiency and improved communication are actually the greatest benefits of the information technology, both in the business sector and in communication and exchange of information among state authorities and bodies, by means of which large amounts of information are exchanged within a very short period of time with the furthermost parts of the globe.The revolution is in the fact that computer systems and networks enabled fast and efficient exchange of informationdata at disposal on the most widely used network, the Internet, which is used by all age groups on the Planet.Beside all the advantages and benefits, the computer and the computer networks and systems, become a means and an object of attacking with elements of abuse by unprincipled individuals, groups or even criminal organizations.The unlawful, illegal use, or better, misuse of computer technology is more and more of an incriminated character and the criminals are more and more directed towards execution of computer crimes and involve minimal knowledge and resources for achieving higher crime proceeds, at the same time causing enormous damage, deriving from a variety of motives.Fighting the crime imposes the need for permanent following and analyzing the cases involving the computer, the networks and the systems as a means or as an object of crime attack by individuals and organized groups.Based on this is the incrimination of certain computer-related crimes in the national legislation upon which builds on the prosecution of perpetrators and, further on, the international cooperation in this field as the computer crime is, naturally, not performed only within the borders of a single state.It is usually a crime of international character and fighting it requires a wider, international reaction involving application of modern methods and instruments, collaboration and coordination among the corresponding institutions worldwide.This paper is aiming at analysis of the conditions related to the evident shapes and forms of computer crime as they are incriminated in the Macedonian national legislation, as well as the situation related to discovering, revealing, evidencing and preventing this type of crime in the Republic of Macedonia.