Section 3  High-Technology Offenses

1 Trends in high-technology offenses

  Table 1-3-3-1 shows the number of cases cleared for offenses involving computers or electromagnetic records (referring to computer fraud, unauthorized creation and damaging of electromagnetic records, and obstruction of business by damaging a computer) over the last five years.

Table 1-3-3-1  Number of cases cleared for offenses involving computers or electromagnetic records (2003–2007)

  The total number of cleared cases increased for two consecutive years since 2005, but in 2007, it decreased by 12.4% from the previous year.
  Table 1-3-3-2 shows the number of cases cleared for offenses using cyber network (referring to offenses using cyber network, such as fraud using the internet and child prostitution cases) over the last five years.

Table 1-3-3-2  Number of cases cleared for offenses using cyber network (2003–2007)

  The total number of cleared cases has continued to increase for the last five years, and in 2007, the number increased by 9.0% from the previous year. Although fraud, which had been on an upward trend, decreased by 5.3% in 2007 from the previous year, it still accounted for 38.6% of all, and fraud related to internet auctions of all the fraud cases accounted for about 81% (Source: The Community Safety Bureau, National Police Agency). Among offenses related to the sexual damage of children, child pornography decreased by 23.5% from the previous year, but child prostitution (up by 19.0% from the previous year) and Youth Protection Ordinance violations (up by 17.3% (id.)) both continued to increase.
  Table 1-3-3-3 shows the number of cases cleared for violations of the Unauthorized Computer Access Act over the last five years.

Table 1-3-3-3  Number of cases cleared for violations of the Unauthorized Computer Access Act (2003–2007)

  The number of cleared cases in 2007 increased by more than 2 times from the previous year after it nearly doubled from the previous year in 2005 and more than 2.5 times (id.) in 2006, making a new record high since the act was enforced in 2000.
  Table 1-3-3-4 shows the numbers of cases reported and cleared for offenses related to electromagnetic records of payment cards over the last five years.

Table 1-3-3-4  Number of cases reported and cleared for offenses related to electromagnetic records of payment cards (2003–2007)

  In 2007, the numbers of reported cases and cleared cases decreased slightly by 3.5% and 6.6% from the previous year respectively.