ud and theft, incidents of theft of money from financial institutions or goods from businesses. The second is information fraud and theft. Information can be data, such as business secrets stored in computer systems, valuable to computer programs and data about individuals. The third category is theft of services. For example, systems hackers who use computer time to "look around" or employees who run entire profitable computer enterprises, such as service bureaus on the company or agency computer systems are examples of this kind of abuse. Lastly, vandalism, where computers have been damaged or destroyed as have databases and programs to perpetrate crimes. In addition, Nycum also points out that computers are involved in several ways as tools or objects for an attack. For example, international terrorists have used bombs and submachine guns to attack at least 28 computer centers of multi national companies and government agencies in Italy and France over the past years. A misguided employee of a U.S. company firebombed a computer of a competing company for the purpose of giving his employer a competitive business advantage. Furthermore, a computer can be the subject of crime by providing the automated mechanism to modify and manipulate new forms of assets, such as computer programs and information representing money. For example, bank frauds have been accomplished by manipulating the system to transfer small amounts of money from one account, which is later withdrawn. This is known as the "salami effect," where near the end, after slicing the intruded account, the complete account is exhausted by all the small transfers or withdrawals. Bogus accounts have been created in computerized delivery or accounts payable systems to which goods have been shipped or money paid by financial institutions and retailers. Changes to computerized data have resulted in inflation of inventories in credit ratings, employment reviews, college and school gr...
