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 (unauthorized creation or damaging of electromagnetic records, and obstruction of business through damaging computers, and computer fraud), offenses related to the electromagnetic records of payment cards, and Unauthorized Computer Access Act violations over the last five years. With offenses involving computers or electromagnetic records, the number of cleared cases for computer fraud continued increasing from 2003 on, and increased to approximately three times that of the previous year in 2008, but then decreased by 23.2% from the previous year in 2009. The number of cleared cases for offenses related to the electromagnetic records of payment cards has been decreasing since 2005 and decreased by 6.5% from the previous year in 2009. The number of cleared cases for Unauthorized Computer Access Act violations has been sharply increasing since 2005 and was 2,534 (up 794 or 45.6% from the previous year) in 2009, the largest since enforcement of the said Act in 2000.
Table 1-3-3-1 Number of cleared cases for offenses involving computers or electromagnetic records, etc. (2005-2009)
Table 1-3-3-2 shows the number of cases cleared for offenses using cyber networks (offenses using cyber networks including fraud over the internet and child prostitution cases, etc.) over the last five years. The number of cases cleared for offenses using cyber networks had been increasing every year, but decreased by 8.6% from the previous year to 3,961 in 2009. By type of offense the number of cases cleared for fraud decreased by 15.1% from the previous year in 2009 but has remained at a high level since 2005. Of fraud cases 522 cases (40.8%) involved offenses related to internet auctions (Source: The Community Safety Bureau, National Police Agency). The number of cleared cases for sexual offenses against children has been on an increasing trend. In 2009 the number of cleared cases for child prostitution and that of Youth Protection Ordinance violations decreased by 17.9% and 25.4%, respectively, from the previous year, whereas the number of cleared cases involving child pornography doubled. The number of cleared cases for Internet Dating Site Control Act violations increased for three consecutive years from 2006 on but decreased by 4.9% from the previous year in 2009.
Table 1-3-3-2 Number of cleared cases for offenses using cyber networks (2005-2009)
Reference: Status of report concerning computer viruses
The spread of computer viruses has been a factor in the obstruction of smooth processing of information by computers.
Those discovering or infected by a computer virus are requested to report it to the Information-Technology Promotion Agency, Japan. Table 1-3-3-3 shows the number of reported cases of computer viruses over the last 10 years.
Table 1-3-3-3 Number of reported cases of computer viruses (2000-2009)
