The understanding of crime is very paramount in the understanding of computer crime. Crime is a component of deviance, the other component being delinquency. Haralambos, Holborn and Heald (2004, P. 331) define crime as those activities that break the law of the land and are subject to official punishment.

Computer crime is predicted on the fact that human society has undergone tremendous changes. The height of such change is the current post-modern or high modern society, as suggested by some sociologists like Anthony Giddens. The current society is centred on information and communication technology which laid the foundation for globalization.

Lyotard (1984) sees the postmodern era as resting upon the miniaturization and commercialization of machines.

Admittedly, post-modern era with its emphasis on computer technology has its merits. Such merits can be experienced and seen in the areas of education, health, trade, entertainment, transport and general improvement in the living standards in the human society. However, its de-merits are also prominent; chiefly among them is computer or cybercrime.

TYPES OF COMPUTER CRIME

HACKING: It is the act of defeating the security capabilities of a computer system in order to obtain an illegal access to the information stored on the computer system. Once they gain access to your account, they can use your personal information to commit identity theft, charge your credit cards, empty your bank accounts, read your email, and lock you out of your on line account by changing your password.

FISHING: The act of attempting to acquire sensitive information, like usernames, passwords, credit card details, etc, by disguising as a trustworthy source. It is carried out through email or by enticing the user to enter personal information through fake websites. It is called fishing because the fraudsters are fishing for your private account information.

COMPUTER VIRUS: It refers to computer programs that can replicate themselves and harm the computer system on a network without the knowledge of the system users.

CYBER STALLING: The use of information and communication technology, mainly the internet, to torture other individuals. This can be in form of transmission of threats and false accusations online.

IDENTITY THEFT: This involves the stealing of money and other benefits online through the use of false identity.

Others include cyber terrorism, internet victimization, computer cracking, intellectual property theft, malicious use of the internet, etc.

CASES OF HACKING IN NIGERIA

Though there are little or no comprehensive studies on computer crimes in Nigeria. What is more, there is no Nigerian University that offers cybercrime as an academic discipline. However, we shall depend on other studies done elsewhere, as well as other articles and essays in Nigeria, for our analysis on computer crime.

A report from a research, titled, "How much does cybercrime cost?" released in February, 2011, by the BAE Subsidiary Detica in partnership with the Cabinet Office's officer Cyber Security and Information Assurance by the University of Cambridge, Marked the first systematic study of the cost of cybercrime. The research suggested that the overall cost to the UK economy from cybercrime is 27 billion Pounds annually. The research however recommends that society should spend less on antivirus soft wares and more on policing the internet. (How Much Does Cyber Crime Cost, 2012).

From the report, one can deduce a heavy financial burden and depletion on the economy of nation-states in general, and Nigeria in particular.