A teenager who crashed an email server with five million messages was recently cleared of breaking the law by Wimbledon Magistrates Court because it was deemed that the teenager’s actions did not break statutes in the 1990 Computer Misuse Act.
Commenting on the case Tom Harris MP, whose Private Member’s Bill tackling cyber-crime is due for its 2nd Reading next March, said:
“It is time to take cyber-crime seriously. Hi-tech crime is costing this country billions of pounds a year, but the laws in place to combat it are outdated. Although this recent case seems to confirm the perception that hacking, virus-proliferation and denial-of-service attacks are the product of bright but lonely socially challenged teenagers it is important to note that this perception is outdated, inaccurate and dangerous. Those who regularly and increasingly hold website operators to ransom are more likely to be members of an organised crime syndicate than the school computer club.
To meet the challenge posed by cyber-crime it is crucial the Computer Misuse Act (1990) is updated. I presented a Ten Minute Rule Bill to the House of Commons in July this year. The Bill seeks to enact the key recommendations of the All Party Internet Group’s (APIG) inquiry into Revision of the CMA (June 2004).
Specifically, the Bill amends section 3 of the CMA in order explicitly to criminalise all means of interference with a computer system, in particular creating an offence of denial-of-service attacks. The Bill also increases the tariff for CMA section 1 (hacking) offences from six months to two years and from five to ten years for further related offences.
By increasing the tariff on these crimes, a message would be sent to the courts and to the Public Prosecution Service that these crimes must be taken seriously and that where appropriate, custodial sentences must be applied.
My Bill returns to the House of Commons for its 2nd Reading on 17 March next year. I hope that with the support of both sides of the House this important piece of legislation will reach the statute book.”
ENDS
