The current U.S. hacking law has become so outdated in some ways that many people unknowingly break it each and every day, industry experts told
Reuters.
The current U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was created in 1984, and has failed to keep up with changing technology and
identity theft, according to the report.
One phase in particular, which says that it is illegal to "intentionally access a computer without authorization or exceed authorized access," is now too vague, some say. In some interpretations, advocates told the news agency, that law might actually make it a crime for employees to surf online shopping websites while they are at work, along with other similar petty incidents.
"This statute has the potential to affect millions of Americans in the workplace who work at or use a computer to do their job," law firm partner Brent Cossrow told Reuters. "Hopefully, it gets cleared up soon."
Hacking remains a continued concerns for consumers and businesses. To read more about
data breaches and information security, see the blog maintained by Identity Theft 911 Chief Information Security Officer
Ondrej Krehel.
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