Senate passes cybercrime bill aimed at victim restitution
Closing some loopholes in current legislation, say lawmakers
November 16, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- The Senate has passed a bill that would allow victims of online identity theft schemes to seek restitution from criminals and expands the definition of cyberextortion.
The Senate passed the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act by unanimous consent Thursday. The bill, introduced a month ago by Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, allows victims of identity theft to seek restitution for the time they spend to fix the problems. The bill would allow prosecutors to go after criminals who threaten to take or release information from computers with cyberextortion, and it would allow prosecutors to charge cybercriminals with conspiracy to commit a cybercrime.
Current law only permits the prosecution of criminals who seek to extort companies or government agencies by explicitly threatening to shut down or damage a computer.
The bill would also make it a felony to use spyware or keystroke loggers to damage 10 or more computers, even if the amount of damage was less than $5,000. In the past, damage of less than $5,000 was a misdemeanor.
The legislation, among other things, would also allow the federal prosecution of those who steal personal information from a computer even when the victim's computer is in the same state as the attacker's computer. Under current law, federal courts only have jurisdiction if the thief attacks from another state, according to Leahy's office.
Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, applauded the Senate action. The U.S. Department of Justice worked with senators to craft the legislation and fill holes in cybercrime laws, he said on the Senate floor.
The bill "takes several important and long-overdue steps to protect Americans from the growing and evolving threat of identity theft and other cybercrimes," he said. "To better protect American consumers, our bill provides the victims of identity theft with the ability to seek restitution in federal court for the loss of time and money spent restoring their credit and remedying the harms of identity theft, so that identity theft victims can be made whole."
The Business Software Alliance (BSA), a trade group, and the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA) both praised the Senate for passing the legislation. The BSA urged the House of Representatives to act on a similar bill.
The Senate bill closes "loopholes" in U.S. law, CSIA President Tim Bennett said in a statement.
The Senate bill will "provide law enforcement greater tools to crack down on the increasingly sophisticated network of cybercriminals," Bennett added. "Identity theft and data breaches have become organized crime's number one business."
Reprinted with permission from
Story copyright 2006 International Data Group. All rights reserved.
Consumer devices and services pose threats to security and infrastructure
stability. Which are the worst, and what can you do about it?
We asked usability experts to compare the iPhone with two competitors to
see if Apple's device matches its hype. They came up with an unequivocal
answer.
Can Apple make even a spreadsheet cool? Our reviewer examines the new
office productivity suite for the Mac.
With IT's unfettered access to both professional and personal data, should
"follow your conscience" be part of the job description?
Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS.
Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready?
|
|
Strategies for Protecting Against Internet Threats
Download this Technology Briefing, free, compliments of St. Bernard Software, for a limited time.
(Source: Computerworld)
It is through the Web that the most potentially harmful and malicious threats can enter a computer system. Yet, nearly half of all organizations in the U.S. continue to do nothing about Web Filtering or blocking.
Learn about the effective and affordable strategies that your organization can use to protect itself from internet threats in the new report from Computerworld. For a limited time this report is being made available at no cost to our customers, compliments of St. Bernard Software.
Download this executive briefing
|
|
Endpoint Security Deep Dive
Endpoint Security Deep Dive
Get this webcast now!
Go to the webcast
|
|
Symantec Endpoint Protection - A Unified, proactive approach to endpoint security
Get this white paper now!
(Source: Symantec) To combat the sophisticated, stealthy, and targeted attacks of today's threat landscape, organizations can no longer rely on traditional antivirus and antispyware solutions. It is necessary to implement additional layers of security to proactively protect against zero-day threats. Symantec Endpoint Protection combines essential best-in-breed technologies to deliver advanced threat prevention from known and unknown threats. Download this white paper to learn more.
Download this white paper
|
|
White Papers
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services.
|
View more whitepapers
|
|
|