| Early on, computer crimes were prosecuted under a number of statutes, generally dealing with interstate communications, wire fraud, and attacks against government property. However, until very recently there has been very little legislation which was specific to computer crimes. Today, computers and the Internet have become the focus of much concern and publicity. Laws are often passed in response to a specific event. These laws are written quickly and address only the specifics of the recent event. They are commands written with a view of today, without addressing larger issues or seeing where technology is going. This leads to laws that rapidly become obsolete as technology changes. Most countries have written, or are in the process of writing, computer crime laws. The focus of these laws varies. Some are concerned with the disruption of government operations, others are concerned with the privacy of the citizens , and a few are concerned with protecting the rights of the owners of the information. Governments must ensure that the laws are kept up to date. | Gaps in national criminal laws mean that cyber-crime is unpunished in many countries worldwide, a survey has revealed. According to a report backed by the World Information Technology and Services Alliances (WITSA) ” a worldwide consortium of 41 IT industry associations ” only nine of the 52 countries analyzed in the report have extended their criminal laws into cyberspace to cover most types of cyber-crimes. The report said the lack of updated laws means that cyber-criminals around the world believe they will not be punished for their crimes. It said the laws of most countries do not clearly prohibit cyber-crimes, and existing laws against physical acts of trespass or breaking and entering often do not cover their "virtual" counterparts. Web pages such as the e-commerce sites recently hit by widespread distributed denial of service attacks are not covered by outdated laws as protected forms of property. "New kinds of crimes can fall between the cracks," the report warns. Thirty-three of the countries surveyed have not yet updated their laws to address any type of cyber-crime. [75] | [75] Ticehurst, Jo, "Cybercriminals are Getting Away With It," Computing , 8 December 2000. U.S. Federal Statutes Federal statutes address crimes against federal institutions, interstate crimes, and acts against the security of the country, such as terrorism. Due to the nature of computer networks, interstate commerce and federal telecommunications laws are often used to prosecute hackers. Early on, laws written for telephone fraud were applied to computer crime; more recently, computer-specific crime laws have been enacted, as well as new sentencing guidelines for computer criminals. The following are a sample of some of the laws which are used in prosecuting computer crimes: -
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984 This is the first federal computer crime statute adopted in 1984 and amended in 1986 and 1994. It makes it a crime to knowingly access a federal interest computer without authorization to obtain certain defense, foreign relations, financial information, or atomic secrets. It is also a criminal offense to use a computer to commit fraud, to "trespass" on a computer, and to traffic in unauthorized passwords. -
Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 This updated the Federal Wiretap Act to apply to the illegal interception of electronic (i.e., computer) communications or the intentional, unauthorized access of electronically stored data. -
U.S. Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 This law amended the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and requires all communications carriers to make wiretaps possible. -
Economic and Protection of Proprietary Information Act of 1996 This law extends the definition of property to include proprietary economic information so that the theft of this information can be considered industrial or corporate espionage. -
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 HIPAA requires that all healthcare organizations that transfer records and information electronically must follow certain standards for ensuring that the records remain secure and confidential. -
National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996 This law amends the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to provide more protection to computerized information and systems by defining new computer crimes and by extending protection to computer systems used in foreign or interstate commerce or communications. -
The Grahm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 This law limits the instances when a financial institution may disclose nonpublic personal information of a consumer to nonaffiliated third parties. It requires a financial institution to disclose its privacy polices and practices with respect to information shared with affiliates and nonaffiliated third parties. State Computer Crime Laws Each state has different laws and procedures that pertain to the investigation and prosecution of computer crimes. By the mid-1990s, nearly every state had enacted a computer crime statute. State computer crime laws are widely varied. Some are very narrowly drafted, while others are quite broad. The language of the law is often open to interpretation. It is difficult to adequately define the scope of the law so that it covers the behavior that it intends to control, but not so broadly as to be applied to unrelated activities. In addition to this, lawmakers are not computer experts, yet they are tasked with creating laws that address technologies that they do not fully understand and which require the use of a technical language which is not understood . This often creates laws that are not well- constructed . Many states claim jurisdiction on any electronic transaction that crosses its border. Contact your local law enforcement department or district attorney's office for guidance. | The Texas Computer Crimes Act, which is not substantially different from that of any other state, defines that "a person commits an offense if the person knowingly accesses a computer system without the effective consent of the owner." The offense is a felony if the person's intent is to obtain a benefit from the action. A computer system is defined by statute as a "data processing device that functions by the manipulation of electronic or magnetic impulses" and access is "make use of." By this definition looking at someone's digital watch without permission could be a felony. [76] | [76] "Computer Crime ” Defined," $USR/News, May 1994.  |
