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Section 3 High-Technology Offenses
1 Trends in high-technology offenses
Table 1-3-3-1 shows the number of cleared cases for offenses involving computers or electromagnetic records (refers to unauthorized creation and damaging of electromagnetic records, and obstruction of business through damaging a computer, and computer fraud), offenses related to the electromagnetic records of payment cards, and Unauthorized Computer Access Act violations over the last five years.
Table 1-3-3-1 Number of cleared cases for offenses involving computers or electromagnetic records, etc. (2004–2008)
Examining the number of cleared cases for offenses involving computers or electromagnetic records revealed that the number for unauthorized creation and damaging of electromagnetic records decreased for two consecutive years from 2007 while that for computer fraud has been increasing every year and was approximately three times as many as the previous year in 2008. The number of cleared cases for offenses related to electromagnetic records of payment cards decreased every year from 2005 to 2008. The number of cleared cases for Unauthorized Computer Access Act violations increased sharply in recent years and was 1,740 cases (up 298 cases or 20.7% from the previous year) in 2008, the highest since the enforcement of the said act in 2000.
Table 1-3-3-2 shows the number of cases cleared for offenses using cyber networks (refers to offenses using cyber networks including fraud using the internet and child prostitution cases, etc.) over the last five years.
Table 1-3-3-2 Number of cleared cases for offenses using cyber networks (2004–2008)
The number of cleared cases for offenses using cyber networks consistently increased over the last five years and was 4,334 cases in 2008 (up 416 cases or 10.6% from the previous year). By type of offense the number for fraud decreased slightly from the previous year in 2008 but has remained at a high level since 2005. Among fraud cases, 1,140 cases (75.6%) were for offenses related to internet auctions (Source: The Community Safety Bureau, National Police Agency). The number of cleared cases for sex offenses against children has been on an increasing trend. In 2008 the number of child prostitution cases decreased by 44 (8.0%) from the previous year, but the number of cases for child pornography and Youth Protection Ordinance violations increased (by 32.3% and 90.0% from the previous year, respectively). The number of cases for Internet Dating Site Control Act violations has been increasing since 2006 and increased significantly in 2008 to approximately three times the number recorded in the previous year.
Reference: Status of report concerning computer viruses
The spread of computer viruses has been a factor obstructing the smooth processing of information by computers.
Any computer viruses discovered should be reported to the Information-Technology Promotion Agency, Japan. An examination of the number of reported cases over the last 10 years revealed that although the number has been decreasing since 2006 the number of reported cases in 2008 was still nearly six times as many as that in 1999.
Table 1-3-3-3 Number of reported cases of computer viruses (1999–2008)
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