to help enterprise security across Europe
The resource centre for busy senior executives seeking the latest insights into IT Compliance & Privacy issues for major organizations
 
sarbaines oxley ofcom communications regulator
Latest Resources      data protection register
compliance resources privacy resource center

Breaking Global News
Global Compliance and Privacy News
- Breaking News, updated every 30 minutes
•   Compliance, Privacy and Security
•  Money Laundering
•  Phishing
•  Regulatory Issues
•  SOX, Basel 2, MiFID


You Tell Us:
S
S
L

T
E
C
H
N
O
L
O
G
Y
We use SSL Technology for web data entry points:

Always
Sometimes
Never
What is SSL?

News
Are Smartphones Endangering Security? - Wick Hill
Dealing with Internet Security Threats - Ian Kilpatrick
How the New EU Rules on Data Export Affect Companies in and Outside the EU - Thomas Helbing
Farmers' Data Leak Highlights Old Technology Use - Wick Hill
Saving Money with SFTP - Wick Hill
UK Information Commissioner targets firm selling vetting data - Eversheds e80
12 Key Steps to Internet Security - Wick Hill
Telephone Monitoring Legality in the UK - Dechert
Firewall or UTM - Wick Hill
UK Information Commissioner demands mobile device encryption - Eversheds e80
Data loss - liability, reputation and mitigation of risk - Eversheds e80
Phorm, Webwise and OIX - BCS Security Forum
The challenges of PCI DSS compliance - Thales, Russell Fewing
"Quality" Data Vendor Spams us! Editor astounded!
National Gateway Security Survey 2008 - Wick Hill
Unified Threat Management - Watchguard Technologies

news archives
:
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
12 | 13
[What is this?]

Industry Blogs
Tim Berners Lee's Blog
Tim Callan's SSL Blog
Davis Wright Tremaine's Privacy & Security Law Blog
Emergent Chaos Blog
Michael Farnum's Blog
Phillip Hallam-Baker's Blog - The dotFuture Manifesto: Internet Crime, Web Services, Philosophy
Stuart King's Security and Risk Management Blog
David Lacey's IT Security Blog
Metasploit Official Blog
Jeff Pettorino's Security Convergence Blog
Jeff Richards's Demand Insights Blog
David Rowe's Risk ManagementBlog
Bruce Schneier's Security Blog
Larry Seltzer's Security Weblog
Mike Spinney's Private Communications Blog
Richard Steinnon's Threat Chaos Blog
The TechWeb Blog
Tim Trent's Marketing by Permission Blog
Rebecca Wong 's DP Thinker Blog

Newsletters
23 February Newsletter
Newsletter Archives are located in "News"

Industry Update
Internet Security Intelligence Briefing - November 2005
Find out the latest trends in e-commerce, web usage & the latest threats from adware/Spyware

Reports
Phorm, Webwise and OIX
- BCS Security Forum

'The Any Era has Arrived, and Everyione has Noticed' - Stratton Sclavos - VeriSign
Identity Security - Time to Share
Malicious code threats - iDefense
Public Alerts - updated as they happen from Stopbadware.org
Public Alerts - updated as they happen from Websense
Public Advisories - updated as they happen, from iDefense
Phoraging - Privacy invasion through the Semantic web: a special report by Mike Davies of VeriSign

Legislation
Privacy Laws & Business International E-news, Issue 57
Privacy Laws & Business UNited Kingdom E-news, Issue 60

Security Reviews
February 2007 - VeriSign Security Review
The security review archive is here

Case Studies
Finance Industry
Case Study Example

A case study on a Finance industry company.

White Papers
VeriSign® Intelligent Infrastructure for Security
VeriSign® Intelligent Infrastructure: An Overview
Identity Protection Fraud Detection Service - description of the service
Life of a Threat - Video on Threat Management Lifecycle
Optimizing Enterprise Information Security Compliance - Dealing with all the audits
For a full list of all whitepapers, visit our Whitepaper library

Legal Notices
Privacy Policy
Terms of use

basel 2 sarbanes oxley
    legislation
data controller notification binding corporate rules BCR data transfer third countries third part data transfer basel 2 regualtor regulation regulate FSA banking network security RSA encryptin algorithm Bits sacked bank staff
Blogs compliance Reports compliancy Legislation Data Protection Case Studies data privacy White Papers data protection act News information commissioner Events security standards Links information security iDefense
Retail Solutions

UK Getting tough on Computer Misuse

compliance and privacy

Current News Updates

UK Getting tough on Computer Misuse

Computer misuse takes many forms including hacking of certain types of computer, fraud, denial of service attacks and the spreading of viruses, worms, trojan horses, time bombs and other malicious code. Hackers and other ‘computer terrorists’ have the potential to cause serious disruption to organisations, businesses and individuals. It is estimated that each year in the UK computer misuse costs between £400 million and £2 billion in damage caused to computer systems.

Computer misuse has traditionally been covered by the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA) which sets out two key offences:

  • unauthorised access to computer programs or data (i.e. hacking), together with a more serious version of the offence if the hacking is carried out with an intent to commit or facilitate further offences; and
  • unauthorised modification of computer material.

However, the Police and Justice Act 2006 (PJA) introduces long-awaited amendments to the CMA aimed at bringing it up to date with the latest developments in computer crime and imposing tougher penalties. These amendments are likely to come into force in the next few months.

The PJA will replace the offence of unauthorised modification of computer material with one that is wider in scope. The replacement offence imposes criminal liability on a person who:

  • knowingly commits an unauthorised act in relation to a computer; or
  • intends to perform such an act; or
  • is reckless as to whether he might be performing such an act.

The offence is committed where the effect of the unauthorised act is that it:

  • impairs the operation of any computer;
  • prevents or hinders access to any program or data held in any computer; or
  • impairs the operation of any such program or the reliability of any such data.

Those who post malware or distribute passwords on the internet with a reckless disregard for its use may be caught under the new offence. The new wording is also intended to be wide enough to catch those paying someone to commit an offence.

The PJA also introduces a new offence of obtaining, supplying or offering to supply a program or data in electronic form with the intention or in the belief that it is likely to be used to commit, or to assist in the commission of an offence. This offence places an onus on distributors of hacking tools to decide if they will be used for illegal purposes.

In addition, the PJA increases the penalties for committing computer misuse within the UK which will be punishable by fines and/or imprisonment up to 10 years depending on the type of offence.

It is hoped that these changes to the CMA will act as an additional deterrent to potential offenders. However, some IT security professionals are concerned that the law may inhibit the development of security tools for legitimate uses, but which may be viewed as potentially assisting hackers. There is also some uncertainty over whether the penalties are proportionate and a sufficient deterrent, especially given the current problems of over-crowding in UK prisons. A larger question mark remains as to what deterrents exist internationally as computer misuse often takes place on a global scale and without regard to national boundaries.

This article is reproduced from Eversheds e80 service. You can find out more about Eversheds e80 and search the Eversheds e80 archive at www.eversheds80.com. e80 is provided by Eversheds for information purposes only and should not be regarded as a substitute for taking legal advice. It is reproduced here by kind permission of and is © Eversheds.

 


This site is independent of all its sources
The contents of the site are sourced from across the industry. All copyrights are acknowledged.