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Crime
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The development of technologies produces a profound impact
on the contemporary society. At the same time, it should be
said that effects of the wide implementation of new technologies
is dubious. On the one hand, new technologies facilitate consistently
the life of people, making it more comfortable, while on the
other hand, they expose people to new threats, which have
never been known before. In this respect, it should be said
that technological threats do not always affect physical health
or life of people, or their environment, but, contemporary
technologies also create a serious threat of the identity
theft. To put it more precisely, the security of private information
of people becomes one of the major concerns in the contemporary
world because the threat of the identity theft is constantly
growing. In fact, this is a very serious problem which affects
all people and it is hardly possible to estimate that a person
is fully protected from the identity theft since even the
largest and most secured companies cannot fully guarantee
the protection of the private information of their customers
and, therefore, people are exposed to this threat. In such
a situation, it is important to assess the extent to which
the threat of identity theft is widely spread and whether
the threat will increase in the future.
On analyzing the problem of the identity theft in the contemporary
world, it should be said that it is a relatively new problem
since the development of technologies in the past could hardly
provide opportunities for such a kind of theft (Anderson,
2002). The development of IT, Internet, computing was apparently
beneficial for ordinary people since it facilitate consistently
their life while for business the development of IT became
the basis for the unparalleled economic growth and the development
of new industries (Boyle and William, 1999). As a result,
the emergence of e-commerce and e-business was the natural
result of the development of new technologies.
At the same time, along with numerous benefits and advantageous
of new technologies and new business, the threat of the identity
theft became particularly significant. In fact, the main problem
was that society was not really prepared for such technologies
either technologically, or legally. What is meant here is
the fact that large masses of people were and, to a significant
extent still are, ignorant of possible threats they are exposed
to through the use of new technologies. People have readily
started to use new technologies but they did not really care
about the protection of their private information that naturally
increased the threat of the identity theft dramatically. In
such a way, people could be involved in some illegal machinations
online, being unconscious of possible consequences and existing
threats.
Actually, even ordinary online transactions were and still
are not totally secured. In this respect, it should be said
such a lack of security proves the technological unpreparedness
not only ordinary people but also large companies operating
in banking industry for the introduction and wide use of new
technologies. In fact, it is possible to find numerous examples
of breaches in IS of many large companies, including banks
which apparently involved the misuse of the private information
of people and, therefore, created the direct threat of the
identity theft. The existing IS proved to be not really effective
in regard to the protection of private information of people
from breaches and misuse. In this regard, some researchers
(Anderso, 2002) indicate to the fact that contemporary technologies
are insufficient to fully protect people from the threat of
the identity theft since even such traditionally highly protected
system as banking system is susceptible to breaches and misuse
of private information of customers.
Moreover, ordinary people are not less susceptible to such
a threat. It should be said that private information stored
on their PCs, for instance, as well as the information concerning
their IDs, driving licenses, etc. are not really secured and
the risk of misuse or thieving of this information is very
high. However, it is ordinary users that are the most unconscious
or ignorant of possible threats and, at the same time, they
are the most exposed to such threats. At any rate, specialists
on IT security (Adams, 1997) point out that the problem with
the misuse of private information or the identity theft occurs
not within the bank or any other company but rather on the
end-user’s computer and this problem may be observed
not only in such sensitive industry as banking but in e-business
at large.
Technologically, the threat of the identity theft is clearly
identified by IT specialists. They underline that the core
of the problem may be found in the hackers’ ability
to decrypt codes and obtain passwords by cracking into the
software that was downloaded on the user’s computer.
In such a way, offenders can receive any information they
have and they can use them in any way they want. In such a
context, the loss of money, for instance, in the result of
elementary theft using such a technique seems to be the minor
threat compared to the risk of the identity theft since, on
retrieving all information on user’s identity, offenders
can use it in their own interests (Lucas and Baroudi, 2002).
At the same time, the essence of the problem of the identity
theft is not limited to the technological domain solely. In
this respect, it is necessary to underline the fact that the
lack of legislative regulation also plays an extremely important
role. In fact, the development of legislation is, to a significant
extent, characterized by certain backwardness compared to
the development of new technologies. What is meant here is
the fact that the implementation of changes in the existing
legislation, especially in developed countries, is traditionally
a long-lasting process since the stability of legislation
and its unchangeable nature are the major factors that determine
the economic and political stability in developed countries.
In contrast, the development of technologies consistently
outweighs the implementation of legislative changes and improvements
(Lucas and Baroudi, 2002). As a result, the existing legislation
cannot fully prevent the threat of the identity theft. At
any rate, the recent efforts to prevent cyber crime on the
legislative level are important, necessary, but they are apparently
insufficient. The endorsement of the existing legislation
and the focus on the protection of private information of
people are very important but the legislative changes are
rather a reaction in response to crimes that have been committed,
including the identity theft.
On the other hand, it is obvious that the threat of the identity
theft cannot be solved on the legislative level solely. Even
the perfect legislation cannot prevent the violation of law,
if there remain ample technological opportunities for misuse
of private information of people or even for the threat of
the identity theft. In this respect, specialists (Lucas and
Baroudi, 2002) lay emphasis on the necessity of the introduction
of new IS and their constant improvement. At the same time,
the technological improvements should be focused on the security
of ordinary users, people that are the most exposed to the
threat of the identity theft (Mica, 1999). This means that
it is not only large companies that should have access to
the most effective IS, but ordinary people should be protected
too. Though, it does not mean that each individual should
be an IT professional to secure his/her private information,
for instance, instead, he/she needs to possess technology,
which could secure his/her private information effectively,
minimizing the threat of the identity theft.
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible
to conclude that the contemporary society faces a serious
threat of the identity theft. In such a situation, the simultaneous
technological and legal improvement could, to a significant
extent, minimize this threat and decrease the risk of misuse
of private information of people.
References:
Adams, G. TUANZ Special Report: Business-to-Business E-Business
– a New Zealand Status Report, Nov. 97.
Anderson, C. In Search of Perfect Market. The Economist, May,
2002, vol. 343.
Bloch, M., Peigneur Y., and Segev A. “Leveraging Electronic
Commerce for Competitive Advantage: a Business Value Framework.”
The Ninth International Conference on EDI-IOS, Bled, Slovenia,
1990.
Boyle, M. and William, J. The Emerging International Tax Environment
For Electronic Commerce. Tax Management International Journal,
vol. 28(6), 1999.
Coyle, T. Surveys and Trends. America’s Community Banker,
vol.8(9), 1999.
King, J. Shipping Firms to Exploit IT to Deliver E-Commerce
Goods. Computerworld, vol. 33, 1999.
Lucas, H., and Baroudi, J. The role of Information Technology
in Organization Design. Journal of Management Information
Systems, vol. 10(4), 2002.
Mica, D. Why E-Commerce? Credit Union Magazine, vol. 65(11),
1999.
Rasmussen, E. The Death of Retail? Sales and Marketing Management,
vol. 151(3), 1999.
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