Salami slicing is a term used to describe the act of committing small illegal activities that accumulate into a significant crime. It can also refer to slowly eliminating rights or changing laws. To prevent this type of fraud, techniques such as regularly scanning transactions and using an adaptive security system can be used.
Salami slicing is a pejorative term to describe engaging in a number of small illegal activities that, when added together, create a big impact and a potentially serious crime. In a simple example, a bank employee could always round down transactions and pocket the difference. A few cents here and there in small transactions is hard to pinpoint, but the cumulative effect over many transactions could be significant. People also use this term outside of the law, even in a negative sense, to describe situations where people try to get away with taking a series of small steps instead of one big and very obvious one.
For the person who commits the crime, slicing salami can be a good strategy. It’s harder to notice a cumulative crime than it is to identify a very large criminal act, and it may take some time to realize what’s going on. The salami slicing exploit is also used in computer hacking, to gain access to a broken system. If someone starts to notice, it may take them some time to identify the pattern and it is possible that some of the small actions may not be traceable, making it difficult to successfully prosecute the criminal.
The person engaged in salami slicing can keep an eye out for signs that someone knows about the activity and can alter strategy or stop temporarily. This will lead people to slacken their vigilance, thinking the problem is gone, allowing the criminal to start over. Over time, business losses can be significant, including large funds, big data compromises, and other issues.
To prevent this type of fraud, people can use a number of techniques. Regularly scanning transactions and activities in a computer system can help people detect irregularities or patterns of concern. Employee rotation and control to keep people constantly on the go can make it more difficult for someone to set a salami slicing scheme. In cybersecurity, an adaptive security system with multiple layers can identify intrusive attacks, even small ones, and address them to prevent a larger breach.
People may also talk about slicing salami in the sense of slowly eliminating rights or slowly changing the nature of a law. In regions where people are concerned about civil liberties and citizens’ rights, a small step to limit rights can be viewed with suspicion. People may fear that a single law opens the door for others, eventually eroding civil liberties and potentially having unintended consequences such as limitations on free speech.
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