NCJ Number
88631
Date Published
1981
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Most protective measures being applied today for securing computer systems are cosmetic and do not provide secure operational environments.
Abstract
The FBI estimates that only 1 percent of the computer crimes committed in the United States are detected and, of these, only 12 percent are reported to law enforcement authorities. Executives and managers in both the private and public sectors have an obligation to properly safeguard assets placed in their custody. Audit, control, integrity, and security features must be considered in every phase of the systems development life-cycle: new systems requirement study, systems analysis report, general design specifications, program design specifications, installation and testing, and postinstallation evaluation. Areas that must be considered in efforts to reduce the potential for unlawful systems manipulation include systems design and development, user communities, internal/external data processing auditors, systems support maintenance, systems and user documentation, data-media-document control, operations, communications, and terminal operations. The paper describes various factors contributing to computer fraud, poor systems design and development and methodologies facilitating fraudulent activities, and detailed case histories highlighting such fraud incidents. Figures and three references are supplied.