------------------------------------------------------------ Computer Hackers Beware! ------------------------------------------------------------ Senate Passes Computer Fraud And Abuse Act ------------------------------------------------------------ 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. Downloaded from P-80 Systems....