Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

In 1986, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) was passed in the US to prosecute hackers. It clearly defines the activities which can be referred to as "hacking" by an individual. The law authorizes the Secret Service (a department of the US government that tracks hackers) to investigate any individual who violates the act. Under the act, the following activities are considered illegal:

Knowingly accessing a computer system either without authorization or in excess of permitted authorization and obtaining confidential information from government departments.

Knowingly accessing a computer system either without authorization or in excess of permitted authorization and obtaining credit card information held by the issuing company or credit information held by customer service companies or any financial information held by financial institutions.

• Intentionally accessing a computer system of a government department (without having the authorization to do so), which is either meant for exclusive use of the government staff or where the unauthorized access affects the use of the system by the government.

• Knowingly and with an intention to commit fraud, cracking a password and obtaining unauthorized access to a computer system of the government or (if the system does not belong to the government) affecting the commerce within the country or with foreign countries

Further, the unauthorized accessing of computer systems of any government department is strictly prohibited. Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, the world's most sophisticated information data bank and network communicator has received about 22,000 electronic attacks on its system. The net surfers need to be cautious as many on line activities can result in violation of the CFAA law. An individual can be prosecuted and punished under this law, even if he did not have the intent to cause the harm that had actually occurred because of his act. Robert T. Morris' case can be considered in this regard. An individual may be prosecuted and punished under CFAA if it is proved that he tried to access a system without having the authorization to use the system. Hence, users should avoid exploratory log in attempts.

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