Forwarded From: William Knowles <erehwon@kizmiaz.dis.org>
TOKYO (AP) [2.18.99] - Reflecting an increase in the number of personal
computer users and the popularity of the Internet, high-technology crimes
in Japan rose 58 percent last year, police said Thursday.
The National Police Agency said there were 415 cases categorized as
high-tech crimes in 1998, compared to 262 in 1997. Computer-related fraud
included forging bank account data and reprogramming electromagnetic data.
But actually breaking into a computer system is not a crime in Japan.
Hackers are virtually free to peep at sensitive data stored in Japanese
mainframes unless they destroy or sell any of it.
The National Police Agency is preparing a bill that will outlaw
unauthorized access into computer systems. The agency is also trying to
step up a computer training system for police.
There were 32 computer-related crimes reported in 1993, when the agency
began taking statistics on high-tech crimes.
-o-
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Received on Thu Mar 11 17:26:17 1999