computer crime w8

Take the cyber crime that is used for assignment #2. Using information from assignment #5 (methods to stop cyber crime) , list methods the cyber criminals used to commit their crime and list methods that could have been used to either stop them or to catch them sooner. Complete a 5 to 7 page paper using APA style formatting, original content

#2 assignment: Software
piracy schemes when conducted involve large amounts of money. One of these was
uncovered in the US, Kansas, when six people pleaded guilty to charges that
stemmed from investigations into illegitimate software worth $100 million (Oberholtz, 2016). The justice department termed this one
of the largest software piracy schemes to involve stolen and/or counterfeit
software products that ranged from Microsoft access codes to products for Adobe
Systems. Software piracy is considered a
noteworthy crime that renders software manufacturers and developers as well as
unsuspecting consumers victims.

Software
piracy if conducted on a massive scale poses considerable damage to the
American economy and the private businesses. Microsoft and software developers
sued defendants and the entities they owned civilly for willful trademark
activities and the infringement on copyrights. The scheme, which was a
multi-million dollar undertaking, was characterized by co-conspirators who held
operations overseas in Germany, China and Singapore and across states in the US
and illegally selling Microsoft Corporation software products and Adobe Systems
key codes using a charitable organization as well as online business (Oberholtz, 2016). Key codes are important in that they
allow a user to acquire unlocked as well as licensed versions of programs that
are copyrighted by corporations. The conspirators in the software piracy scheme
sold precuts numbering to 170,000, key codes which were used and activated
severally.

One
of the defendants managed and maintained an online presence of a PayPal/eBay
charity (Project Contact Africa) which was used as a platform for selling
illicit and unauthorized software and its components and the payments were
facilitated using the charitys PayPal account (Oberholtz,
2016). Customers paying to the charity believed that the proceeds from
the sale of the software were for charity while in reality, they were used to
purchase inventory and only a meager portion went to charity. The investigation
into the software piracy scheme uncovered that the inexplicably cheap copies of
the software like Microsoft Office and Photoshop were sold even over reputable
sites like Amazon and Oversctock.com.

Investigators
discovered that the ring that consisted of half a dozen men bought real,

|stolen
access codes that were listen in Word documents and Excel spreadsheets as well
as counterfeit packaging cards that looked genuinely official where the access
codes were faked and printed, and stolen authenticity certificates that were
used to make the software packages appear genuine. The six individuals took
plea deals in the fraud scheme selling copies of Creative Suite, Windows and
Office. Investigators from the Homeland Security tracked these men and
discovered pirated software copies through sites like Craigslist, eBay and even
personal websites(Oberholtz,
2016). The Department of Justice has meted punishments and penalties
ranging from between three and five years in federal prisons to restitution
fees of up to a quarter million dollars.

#5 assignment: Cyber-crimes have
become rampant recently. They can, however, be stopped by application of some
methods. Firstly, people should use strong passwords for their accounts. In
this way, it becomes difficult for the cybercriminals to hack one`s account.
Secondly, people should use different passwords for their different sites. This
will help stop people from easily getting access to all your accounts. Thirdly,
people should secure their computers. This will also stop cyber criminals from
easily acquiring information from one`s computers. Also, people should secure
their wireless networks. This will, in turn, stop people from hacking into the
wireless networks and accessing one`s information. In addition to that,
securing mobile phones can also stop cyber-crimes (Das, 2015). This is in the
sense that once mobile phones are secured it becomes difficult for cyber
criminals to hack and get information from one`s mobile phone.

Catching cyber criminals can also
help stop cyber-crimes. Cyber criminals can be caught in several ways. To begin
with law enforcement in coordination with government agencies should be
applied. It will be easy for law enforcement bodies to catch cyber criminals as
compared to common man since once the bodies get to corporate with the
government, then they can get all the necessary resources to enable them to
catch these criminals. Also, employing of investigators who are technically
trained can also help catch cyber criminals. This is because most cyber
criminals use methods of high standards such that their paths remain
untraceable (Guitton, 2012). However, once the well-trained investigators are
employed, they can use the knowledge and skills that they have to be able to
catch the cyber criminals. With the application of the above methods of
stopping and catching cyber criminals, then cyber-crimes shall be eradicated.