The update has
been long in coming. The existing law the Computer Misuse
Act is now over 15 years old and legal experts have
questioned whether it adequately outlaws Denial of Service attacks.
This is an attack in which a web or email server is deliberately
flooded with information to the point of collapse.
But when a court cleared a teenager last November on charges of
sending five million emails to his former employer, because the
judge decided that no offence had been committed under the Act, the
need for amendment became obvious.
An update was attempted in 2002 and on two subsequent occasions,
each time as a Private Members' Bill. This type of Bill rarely
succeeds; but last November's Bill by Tom Harris, Labour MP for
Glasgow South, has won Government support. His provisions to amend
the 1990 legislation are included in the new Police and Justice
Bill.
This clarifies that all means of interference with a computer
system are criminalized and expands the 1990 Act's provisions on
unauthorised modification of computer material to cover someone who
does an unauthorised act in relation to a computer with "the
requisite intent and the requisite knowledge."
The Bill also increases the penalties that may be imposed.
According to the BBC, MPs from across the House welcomed the
provisions during the Bill’s first reading on Monday, but
criticised other parts of the Bill, which deal with Government
powers in respect of the police.
The Bill now goes on to a second reading.
