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Computer Hackers Beware!
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Senate Passes Computer Fraud And Abuse Act
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The Senate October 2 unanimously passed the Computer
Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986. The bill, s. 2281, imposes
fines of up to $500,000 and/or prison terms of up to 20
years for breaking into government or financial
institutions' computers.
The Federal Government alone operates more than 18,000
medium-scale and large-scale computers at some 4,500
different sites. the Office of Technology Assessment
estimates the government's investment in computers over the
past four years at roughly $60 million. The General Services
Administration estimates that there will be 250,000 to
500,000 computers in use by the Federal Government by 1990.
In 1984, Legislators' attention to and concern about
computer fraud was heightened by a report by the American
Bar Association task force on computer crime. According to
the report, based on a survey of 1,000 private organizations
and public agencies, percent of the 283 respondents had been
victimized by some form of computer crime, and more than 25
percent had sustained financial losses totaling between an
estimated $145 million and $730 million during one twelve-
month period.
To address this problem, the Senate and House enacted,
in 1984, the first computer statute (18 u.s.c. 1030). Early
this year both the House and Senate introduced legislation
to expand and amend this statute.
In the current bill, which is expected to be signed by
President Reagan next week, penalties will be imposed on
anyone who knowingly or intentionally accesses a computer
without authorization, or exceeds authorized access and:
(1) Obtains from government computers information
relating to national defense and foreign relations.
(2) Obtains information contained in financial records
of financial institutions.
(3) Affects the use of the government's operation of a
computer in any department or agency of the
government that is exclusively for the use of the
U.S. Government.
(4) Obtains anything of value, unless the object of the
fraud and the thing obtained consists only of the
use of the computer.
(5) Alters, Damages, or Destroys Information in any
federal interest computer, or prevents authorized
use of any such computer or information.
Under the bill, a person would be guilty of computer
fraud if he or she causes a loss of $1,000 or more during
any one year period.
Depending on the offense, penalties include fines up to
$100,000 for a misdemeanor, $250,000 for a felony, $500,000
if the crime is committed by an organization, and prison
terms of up to 20 years.
The bill also prohibits traffic in passwords and other
information from computers used for interstate or foreign
commerce. This part of the bill makes it possible for
Federal Prosecutors to crack down on Pirate Bulletin Boards
and similar operations because the bill covers business
computers, online networks, and online news and information
services, all of which are considered interstate commerce.
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