Computer crime is an act performed by a knowledgeable computer user, sometimes referred to as a hacker that illegally browses or steals a company's or individual's private information. In some cases, this person or group of individuals may be malicious and destroy or otherwise corrupt the computer or data files.

Examples of computer crimes

Below is a listing of the different types of computer crimes today. Clicking on any of the links below gives further information about each crime.

• Child pornography - Making or distributing child pornography.
• Cyber terrorism - Hacking, threats, and blackmailing towards a business or person.
• Cyberbully or Cyberstalking - Harassing others online.
• Creating Malware - Writing, creating, or distributing malware (e.g., viruses and spyware.)
• Denial of Service attack - Overloading a system with so many requests it cannot serve normal requests.
• Espionage - Spying on a person or business.
• Fraud - Manipulating data, e.g., changing banking records to transfer money to an account.
• Harvesting - Collect account or other account related information on other people.
• Identity theft - Pretending to be someone you are not.
• Intellectual property theft - Stealing practical or conceptual information developed