Protection of Computing Systems
Steve Hedley · 2017
This chapter concerns the law&s;s basic protection for computing systems: criminalisation of attacks on their functioning and integrity, and of the use of computing technology to attack firms or steal their money. It first considers wrongful access to computers; then damage to or impairment of computers; then computer theft and fraud; and, finally, spam. Most of this concerns the criminal law, though protection in the civil law is also briefly considered. One of the most basic legal protections afforded to the owner of a computer is to protect the data on it by penalising those who access it without proper authority. Under the UK offence, lack of authorisation is part of the actus reus , and &s;knowledge that any modification he intends to cause is unauthorised&s; is part of the mens rea . Both the Irish and the UK legislation give their courts jurisdiction if either the defendant did the relevant act within the jurisdiction, or the damage occurred within the jurisdiction.