A Pragmatic, Experiential Definition of Computer Crimes

Abstract

Although the first known virus for a personal computer has been traced to 1980 and a systematic study had been undertaken at Bell Labs in 1984 [1,2], the world really did not take notice until the Melissa virus began to infect millions of computers in late March 1999. After the Melissa virus struck, Elliot Turrini was assigned as the lead prosecutor for the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into Melissa’s disseminator. This also marked the conception of this book. Elliot had little to do with the physical investigation that led to the perpetrator’s apprehension.With valuable assistance from America Online (AOL) investigators, the New Jersey State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation caught the perpetrator, David Smith, within days. It soon became clear that apprehending the perpetrator was the relatively easy part. AOL had provided a report stating that the Melissa Virus had been posted on a Usenet group hosted under AOL by an individual who had accessed an AOL account from a small ISP in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The caller identification information in the call record from this small ISP, revealed that the virus was launched from David Smith’s apartment. The remaining steps associated with proving that David Smith had launched the virus involved classic police work, including search warrants and interviews, which the New Jersey State Police and the FBI conducted very well.