computer crime

American  

noun

1. unauthorized use of a computer for personal gain, as in the illegal transfer of funds or to alter the data or property of others.

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Other Word Forms

• computer criminal
  noun

Etymology

Origin of computer crime

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Police arrested the pair on charges of violating the country's computer crime law last month after raiding their homes.

From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026

The warrant for the computer crime, signed when Hemingway was in New Jersey, stems from allegations he misused a police database 80 times.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 14, 2023

Thai authorities have also increasingly used the country's computer crime laws to prosecute those who've posted critical comments on social media.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2023

Espinosa denied that he was responsible for the video and says he was the victim of "computer crime."

From Reuters • Jun. 16, 2022

That nothing had gone awry so far consoled Miles despite the fact that Homosoto called him almost every day to ask about another computer crime he had heard about.

From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Schwartau, Winn