Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

E288387

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is a U.S. federal law that criminalizes unauthorized access to computers and digital systems, often used in cases involving hacking and cybercrime.

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (52)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute
computer crime law
cybersecurity law
allows civil lawsuits by private parties for certain computer intrusions
amendedBy Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2008
National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996
USA PATRIOT Act
various subsequent cybersecurity-related statutes
appliesTo protected computers
clarifiedConcept scope of exceeding authorized access
codifiedIn Title 18 of the United States Code
codifiedSection Computer Fraud and Abuse Act self-linksurface differs
surface form: 18 U.S.C. § 1030
country United States of America
surface form: United States
criminalizes computer-related fraud
exceeding authorized access to computer systems
extortion involving threats to damage a computer
intentional damage to protected computers
trafficking in computer passwords
transmission of malicious code that causes damage to computers
unauthorized access to protected computers
criticizedFor potentially overbroad application to terms-of-service violations
vague definition of exceeding authorized access
definesTerm protected computer
enactedBy United States Congress
expandedBy USA PATRIOT Act
hasProvision civil cause of action for certain violations
interpretedBy Supreme Court of the United States
surface form: United States Supreme Court
jurisdiction federal
legalArea criminal law
cyberlaw
notableCase Van Buren v. United States
originalEnactmentDate 1986-10-16
originalEnactmentYear 1986
penaltyIncludes fines
imprisonment
penaltyType civil remedies
criminal penalties
protectedComputerIncludes computers used by or for financial institutions
computers used by or for the United States government
computers used in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce
publicLawNumber Public Law 99-474
purpose to combat computer hacking and unauthorized access to computers
to protect computers and computer systems from fraud and abuse
signedBy Ronald Reagan
signingPresident Ronald Reagan
subjectMatter computer security
cybercrime
information security
usedIn prosecutions involving malware and denial-of-service attacks
prosecutions involving unauthorized access to online services
prosecutions of computer hackers
VanBurenDecisionYear 2021

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

United States v. Julian Assange legalBasis Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Coders’ Rights Project focusesOn Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
this entity surface form: CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act)
The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz topic Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act codifiedSection Computer Fraud and Abuse Act self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: 18 U.S.C. § 1030