X Corp (formerly Twitter) has cracked down on data scrapers in a series of lawsuits filed within the last several weeks. One lawsuit targets an Israel-based research firm that provides commercial data scraping, called Bright Data, for alleged unjust enrichment. Another targets The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a UK nonprofit known for scraping
State Department Offers $10M Reward for Information on Russian Officers Involved in Malicious Cyber Activities
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
The U.S. Department of State has announced a $10 million reward for “information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, participates in malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).”…
Supreme Court Narrows Reach of Computer Crime Statute
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
On June 3, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its first-ever interpretation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the federal criminal and civil statute intended to deter and punish unauthorized access to computer systems. The decision in Van Buren v. United States adopts a narrow construction of a key provision of the CFAA…
Second Circuit Upholds Conviction Under the CFAA, Rejecting Argument That the Law Is Unconstitutional
By Jean Tomasco on
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
In a recent decision, the federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (which covers New York, Connecticut, and Vermont) affirmed the conviction of an Italian citizen for misdemeanor computer intrusion in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (CFAA). The decision is noteworthy in that, among other things, the Second Circuit…
SCOTUS upholds Computer Fraud and Abuse Act conviction
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
The Supreme Court of the United States held on January 25, 2016, that an executive of a shipping company who hacked into his former employer’s computer system after he left the company was guilty under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), despite the fact that the jury instructions were faulty.
The executive left his…
Feds focus on damage to computers as basis for Computer Fraud and Abuse Act prosecution
By Kelly Sweeney on
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
Last week, a federal judge sentenced Yijia Zhang, a computer systems manager, to 31 months in federal prison for transferring thousands of his employer’s electronic files to European storage sites. The case highlights the potential power of an overlooked clause of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. § 1030.
The prosecution was…
Computer fraud and abuse act update: Second Circuit sides with a narrower reading
By Kelly Sweeney on
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
The controversy over what is a “computer crime” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is now settled for New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. In a case we have been watching on the blog for months, United States v. Valle, the Second Circuit held that the CFAA should be read narrowly.
The Court…
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Update: Second Circuit Sides with a Narrower Reading
By Kelly Sweeney on
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
The controversy over what is a “computer crime” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is now settled for New York, Connecticut and Vermont. In a case we have been watching on the blog for months, United States v. Valle, the Second Circuit held that the CFAA should be read narrowly.
The…
What is a Federal Computer Crime? It depends where you are
By Kelly Sweeney on
Posted in Data Privacy, Enforcement + Litigation
When an employee has access to data for work, but the employee uses it for non-work purposes, is that a federal crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) (18 U.S.C. § 1030)? The answer depends on where you are.
Ninth Circuit & Fourth Circuit: No, It’s Not a Crime
In late August, the…