A hacker may enjoy finding a way to learn
credit card numbers, for example, even though they may have no intention of committing fraud with the information.
176 SOCIAL ISSUES [CHAP. 9
In any case, the US law provides serious penalities for both ???harmless??? hacking and computer fraud. The
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was first passed in 1986, and it was amended in 1994, 1996, and 2001.
Accessing a government computer without authorization, and communicating any information with respect to
national defense or foreign relations to anyone not otherwise authorized, carries a penalty of a large fine and
imprisonment for up to 20 years.
Accessing the computer of any financial institution when one is not authorized to do so can be punished
with up to 10 years in prison, and a large fine. Simply obtaining the information is a crime, whether one does
anything with that information or not. Trafficking in password information can also draw a 10-year prison term.
Simply damaging a computer, for instance by releasing a computer virus, can be punished with 5 years in
prison. Even causing damage by accident while improperly accessing another computer can be punished with
a year in prison!
Many sections of the ACM Code of Ethics appropriately warn against unauthorized access of another??™s
computer.
Pages:
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485