Analysis of Computer Crime Characteristics in Taiwan

Abstract

This study is intended to uncover the characteristics of computer crimes happening in Taiwan. Applying frequency distribution analysis to the 165 cases collected from the authorities concerned, we find some interesting facts with respect to the crimes’ properties. First, regarding the crimes’ features, a majority of the crimes were related to transmission of pornography and unauthorized copying of proprietary works. Most of them took place at residences. The illegal acts, mainly for profit, usually continued until they were detected. As to the criminals, most of them were male, young, unemployed and college-educated. They tended to commit the crime alone, possessed no prior records and mostly resided in urban areas. Some of them were disabled people, which could be attributed to their difficulties of being employed. The number of cases reported and investigated was increasing, yet, due to certain practical problems, such as the police agency’s limited capability over the offenses or judicial systems’ huge workload, a Funnel Effect emerged in the meantime, resulting in the loss of some cases in each processing phase. In addition, there was a propensity for the judicial system to impose lenient punishment on the violators, e.g. probation and financial penalty instead of imprisonment.