ARTICLES
Dismissal of CFAA Claim for Lack of Jurisdiction
The National Law Journal July 5, 2010 An ALM publication Daily updates at NLJ.COM Under Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, plaintiff must properly specify a $5,000 loss or case will be tossed. BY NICK AKERMAN The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is the omnibus federal computer crime statute outlawing theft and destruction of data, hacking, use of viruses, theft of passwords and extortionate threats to damage computers. 18 U.S.C. 1030. Any business or individual “who suffers damage or loss by...
No New i-Phone 4 for Convicted CFAA Felon Randal Craig
One person you will not see waiting in line to buy the new i-Phone 4 at the Apple Store is Randall Craig who pleaded guilty to violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. (“CFAA”). Craig, a subcontractor at the Marine Corps Reserve Center, communicated by email with an undercover FBI agent posing as a Chinese agent. In the course of their dealings Craig provided the FBI agent with the names and social security numbers of approximately 17,000 Marine employees from a private Marine database...
Investigating Ways to Make Website More Secure Constitutes Loss Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
A federal court in Ohio last week held that the cost of investigating ways to make a website more secure after an authorized access into the website in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) constitutes “loss” to meet the $5,000 jurisdictional amount for loss under the CFAA. Jedson Engineering, Inc. v. Spirit Construction Services, Inc., 2010 WL 2541619 *19 (S.D. Ohio June 18, 2010) The court rejected the defendant’s motion for summary judgment on Jedson’s...
LATEST POSTS
Data Protection
New Washington Privacy Law Effective July 1, 2010
June 3, 2010 · 2 Comments
Washington is the third state to enact an encryption law and a payment card law.1 Massachusetts and Nevada enacted encryption laws and Minnesota and Nevada enacted payment card laws. Since this law takes effect July 1, 2010, any entity that could be subject to this law should begin assessing whether they are subject to and in compliance with this law. Applies to Business, Processor and Vendor This law applies to a business that (i) processes more than six million credit card and debit card transactions annually and (ii) provides,... [Read the full article]
Computer Crime
Economic Espionage Act
December 2, 2009 · Leave a Comment
FOR CORPORATE America, the Economic Espionage Act is a double-edged sword. It can be used to protect a company’s intellectual property by prosecuting dishonest competitors who steal a company’s trade secrets, but it can also be used against a company that finds itself with trade secrets belonging to a competitor. Congress enacted the Economic Espionage Act in 1996, making it a federal crime to steal trade secrets. 18 U.S.C. 1831 et seq. The definition of trade secrets in the statute mirrors the broad definition in state trade secret... [Read the full article]
Cases
Computer Policies and the 9th Circuit
March 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Last month I posted my article from the National Law Journal, entitled, “Time to Review Computer Policies,” discussing three recent cases, including LVRC Holdings LLC v. Brekka, 81 F.3d 1127, 1131 (9th Cir. 2009). I cited Brekka for the proposition that it is important to delineate the scope of an employee’s permissible access to the company computers. Since then, two new district court decisions from California and Washington have called into question whether such a strategy will work in the 9th Circuit. ... [Read the full article]
Podcasts
When Workers Steal Data to Use at New Jobs
July 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Title: When Workers Steal Data to Use at New Jobs Description: In response to the economic crisis, companies have downsized, resulting in some terminated employees stealing vital data to improve their job opportunities with a new employer. In this article for the National Law Journal Nick Akerman takes a look at the state of the law and what employers can do to protect themselves. Released: 7/15/09 Cost: Free Download Podcasts from iTunes. (Free) Category: Business News Language: English Nick... [Read the full article]
Press
Time to review corporate computer policies
February 1, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Time to review corporate computer policies The National Law Journal February 1, 2010 PDF copy of original article: View The National Law Journal Read More →
ISSUE:
Does the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Apply to Employees Who Steal Data?
Does the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Apply to Employees Who Steal Data?
YES
Citrin 7th Circuit
In International Airport Centers, LLC v. Citrin, 440 F.3d 418, 420 (7th Cir. 2006) the court held that an employee was liable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse and the employee’s “authorization to access the [company] laptop terminated, when, . . . [the employee] resolved to destroy files that incriminated himself and other files that were also the property of his employer, in... Read More
NO
Brekka 9th Circuit
In LVRC Holdings LLC v. Brekka, 581 F.3d 1127, (9th Cir. 2009) the employee emailed to himself competitively sensitive data so he could use it to compete against his current employer. Disagreeing with Citrin, the 9th Circuit refused to hold that an employee’s authorization to access the company computer is based on the law of agency. Instead, the court held that the Computer... Read More
RECENT UPDATES
California Court Grants Summary Judgment to Cisco Systems on Computer Fraud and Abuse Claim, Holding that Brekka Does Not Apply to Ex-Employees
Last week a federal district court in California granted Cisco Systems, Inc. summary judgment on its Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) claim against an ex-employee who “on multiple occasions and without authorization, . . . used a Cisco employee’s password to gain access to Cisco’s computer systems and download Cisco’s proprietary and copyrighted software.” Multiven,... Read More
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