Virtually every company with a computer is vulnerable to computer abuse, crime and acciden

t. Security of the computer and of the information and assets contained within it are therefore of paramount importance to management. Skilled computer criminals can break into a computer system far more easily than an armed robber can gain access to a bank vault, and usually with far less risk of apprehension and punishment. A slight change in a complex program can bring about the misappropriation of thousands of pounds. Accidental erasure of crucial data can paralyze company's operations. Anyone familiar with the necessary procedure can gain access to information stored in the computer, no matter how confidential, and utilize it for his own purposes.

Although the actual extent of computer crime is difficult to measure, most experts agree that it is one of the fastest growing areas of illegal activity. The principal reason for both the growth and the lack of accurate measurement is the difficulty in detecting a well-executed theft. Losses per incident thus tend to be higher than in other types of theft. Once the Computer criminal has compromised the system, it is just as easy to steal a great sum as it is to steal a little, and to continue stealing long after the initial theft. Indeed, the computer criminal may find it more difficult to stop his illicit activity than to start it.

Computer criminals are, for the most part, well-educated and highly intelligent. The fact that computer criminals do not fit criminal stereotypes helps them to obtain the positions they require to carry out crimes. Being intelligent, they have fertile imaginations, and the variety of ways in which they use equipment to their advantages is constantly being extended. In addition to direct theft of funds, the theft of data for corporate espionage or extortion is becoming widespread, and can obviously have a substantial effect on a company's finances. Another lucrative scheme, often difficult to detect, involves accumulating fractions of pence from individual payroll accounts, with electronic transfer of the accumulated amount to the criminal's payroll. Employers are hardly concerned with pence, much less fractions of pence. In addition, undoubtedly, the company's payroll is unaffected. But the cumulative value of fractions of pence per employee in a company with a substantial payroll can add up to a useful gain.

Guarding against computer abuse—whether deliberate or accidental—involves attention to the protection of hardware from physical damage as well as protection of software and data. Computer must be isolated from other company facilities, and unauthorized person should never be admitted to the computer area. Event though some risks are reduced through this measure, most damage to software, accidental and intentional, is caused by those whose jobs require at least some access to the computer. The writer of the program is often the one responsible for its misuse. Programs devised exclusively for a particular company are therefore far more valuable to abuse and accident than standard software packages produced by external suppliers.

Skilled computer criminals can break into a computer system______.

A．quite easily

B．without any risk

C．more easily than an armed robber can gain access to a bank vault and with far less risk

D．without being punished