Computer Misuse Act 1990
The Computer Misuse Act 1990 provides several offences involving the use of computers. In 2006 the Act was amended by sections 35-38 of the Police and Justice Act 2006. Discuss the offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and the 2006 amendments. Your discussion must include critical assessment of the Act in light of new computer technologies and the realities of computer crime investigative methodologies.
INTRODUCTION
We all know that hacking has been all over the place, practically it’s been going as long as the Internet has been alive. As we are all aware that selected amount of people just love to try and break into a computer system. But of course it’s not right for people to be hacking other people’s personal
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Unauthorised access to computer material, punishable by up to 2 years in prison or a fine or both.
• Section 36. Unauthorised acts with intent to impair operation of computer, etc. punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a fine or both.
• Section 37. Making, supplying or obtaining articles for use in computer misuse offences, punishable by up to 2 years in prison or a fine or both.
• Section 38. Transitional and saving provision.
The Computer Misuse Act 1990 was intended to protect computer users against some stubborn attacks and theft of information. There are plenty of offences under the act include the main one which is hacking, unauthorised access to computer systems and purposefully spreading malicious and harmful software (malware), such as viruses
The first and lowest offence is unauthorised access to computer (section 35) which is also known to be the lowest of all offences, even so anybody that gets charged with this could end up in a prison for maximum of 6 month sentencing or get a hefty fine. It’s really simple to commit this crime, it happens daily as we speak. To get charged for this offence, Have you ever guessed or used someone else’s ' password to log onto their user area which involves anything such as their accounts, system, files, emails and so on? If you have done this then you are guilty of charge. Things started changing back in 2006, the Police and Justice Act introduced the amendments to the Computer Misuse Act 1990 by the Police and Justice Act 2006 and this offence was one of them. The punishment was increased by up to 12 months or 2 years in prison, fine of £5,000 or
(3)Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another and to knowingly make any false statement concerning death injury illness, disfigurement, indecent conduct or criminal conduct of the person electronically mailed or of any member of the person’s family or household with the intent to threaten, terrify or harass.
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) of 1986 is a foundational piece of legislation that has shaped computer crime laws for the United States. It was spawned from Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, Section 1030 that established three new federal crimes to address computer crimes. According to Sam Taterka, “Congress tailored the statute to three specific government interests: national security, financial records, and government property” (Taterka, 2016). The statue was criticized for the narrow range of issues it covered and vague language.
Cybercrimes and Cyber Protection in Canada Whenever a new technological advancements are made, laws and agencies must be implemented and amendments must be crafted to protect its users. As personal computers became available to Canada’s population, information became more accessible than ever before, and personal information such as a person’s address was easier to obtain. The computer and new technological advancements led to a new branch of criminality; cybercrimes. Cybercrimes are computer-related crimes defined by the Council of Europe (2001) as offences against the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of computer data and systems as well as computer-related and content-related offences.
The documentary Rise of the Hackers, focuses on the rising criminal use of hacking and how it is effecting multiple areas of technology. The documentary describes simple and complicated situations concerning hacking, but there still questions that must be answered when it comes to hacking and crime. The main question is in trying to determine why a person would choose to commit computer hacking. There are various theories already present within the criminal justice system that may explain at a micro-level and macro-level. These theories would explain why offenders would commit the crimes, but it may not answer the full scope of the question. The Routine Activities Theory would help to explain why offenders offend, why victims are victimized,
Technology has opened new encounters and opportunities for the criminal justice system. There are so many new practices of criminal activity, such as computer crimes. There are different types of computer crimes that many people become victims of every day. Computer crime is any crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target ("Computer Crime: Chapter 2: What Are the Crimes?", n.d.). Crimes such as data diddling, pump and dump, social engineering and spoofing are computer crimes. Even though these crimes are difficult by privacy issues, the new technology has made investigations and prosecutions well organized and effective. Though views are different on the pros and cons of specific technological changes in the criminal justice system, there is an agreement the system has changed affectedly ("Effects of Technology in Criminal Justice | eHow", n.d.).
Hacking has two primary definitions; the first refers to the enthusiastic and skilful use of computers to solve problems (Techterms, 2013); the second, to “gain unauthorized access to data in a system or computer” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). In the context of this essay the second definition is more appropriate and will be the meaning inferred throughout. This definition also more closely aligns with legal terminology used in the UK when describing the hacking of computers. The Computer Misuse Act (1990) introduced three criminal offenses:
The CFAA was made to cover the majority of computer crimes. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was created because the United States Secret Service, and other government agencies needed a law to allow them to investigate cyber-crimes. The United States government also needed a way to discourage and stop people from hacking, accessing data, and many other internet crimes from a government computer. With computers on the rise, and the government converting to computers, the government needed a way to discourage and prosecute someone that damaged or gained access to the government’s information, and any other kind of computer. This law was also made to protect any kind of businesses computers or servers. The CFAA also is considered a net that Congress throws all the bad fish in. Including “fraud, hacking, piracy, DOS (Denial of Service) attacks, trafficking passwords, (selling, stealing, and buying passwords), and distributing malicious code.” To summarize the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act it protects “anything that connects to the internet”.
a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 7 years in prison. For military cases only one in twenty
The first computer crimes were recognized in the 1978 Florida Computer Crimes Act, which includes legislation against unauthorized modification or deletion of data on a computer syste...
According to Parthasarati Pati, we can divide cyber criminal into four groups. This division may be classified under what they have in their mind. The groups are: Children and adolescents between the age group of 6 to 18 years; organized hackers, professional hackers, crackers and discontented employees. Cyber crimes can be divided into 11 groups and each of them is different. Those are unauthorized access to computer systems or networks or hacking, theft of information contained in electronic form,...
Protecting your personal information, both on your personal computer and in other places such as your bank or your job, has become more difficult with the massive growth of the internet and the expertise of some unsavory characters called hackers, crackers or phreakers. Whatever they choose to call themselves, they are theives, plain and simple. Some people still question whether or not hacking should be illegal. I think it's obvious that what hackers do is illegal. A personal computer is personal and the information on it is private. When a hacker invades that privacy, he/she is trespassing and when they take your personal information they're committing a form of thievery (Ludlow). In addition to hackers, we now have marketers invading our privacy through the use of cookies (Rodger).
Conviction may result in civil disabilities or loss of liberty. Penalties potentially include fines, imprisonment or both.
There are many different types of classifications of cyber and computer crimes. A computer crime can be best described as a criminal activity dealing with the information technology infrastructure. This includes unauthorized illegal access to a computer, interception or interference of data systems, disturbing functioning computer systems by transmitting, deleting, damaging altering, or suppressing computer data along with misuse of device, forgery, ID theft and electronic fraud. Some examples of computer crimes include sending or spreading viruses, hacking into a computer or network, fraud, online sexual predators who use the internet to meet children, harassment, and drug trafficking.
In the computer world, fraud and crime is a widespread issue that is facing all computer users. People being affected by this range from the average computer user to the big corporate companies that employs thousands of people. If these computers have no means of security, this amplifies their vulnerability to an attack from Phishing, Cyber Stalking, Computer Intrusion, and Identity theft. If the right steps are not taken, the threat to private information becoming public could reach an all time high. According to the Cornell University law school website, “Federal law defines computer fraud as the use of a computer to create a dishonest misrepresentation of fact as an attempt to induce another to do or refrain from doing something which causes loss.” (CORNELL) There are two types of computer crime, computer-related crimes and Internet crime. Internet crime involves the use of viruses, phishing, password theft, website vandalism, etc. Computer related crimes involve the use of hacking, una...
This report aims to introduce the various types of computer crimes and what impact does computer crimes bring to the society. The report will also talk about how such computer crimes are prevailing in Singapore and how investigations are being carried out.