Denial of service attacks are committed by individuals who flood
a web server with false and untraceable requests for information,
overwhelming the system and ultimately crashing it.
Those found guilty under the proposed law would face a fine of
up to $5,000 for the first conviction. If the criminal act causes
more than $10,000 worth of damage, the accused will face up to
three years imprisonment. At present, the penalty for such a crime
is a $250 fine.
In the UK, those suspected of causing damage by developing
and/or releasing a virus would likely be charged under the Computer
Misuse Act of 1990, but only where corruption of data occurs.
Denial of service attacks are more difficult.
If the individual responsible is prosecuted in the UK for such
an attack, it is likely to be under the Computer Misuse Act.
However, the Act predates the growth of the internet and it is not
well suited to deal with such an attack. It is feasible that,
depending on the nature of the attack, an attacker could slip
through a loop hole. This is because the Act expects there to be
access to or modification of material. In a denial of service
attack, arguably, there is no such access. However, in England, it
is possible that such an attack could also constitute an offence
under the Criminal Damage Act. In Scotland, it could be prosecuted
as malicious mischief.
