WASHINGTON, DC - The United States Senate approved, on November 15, 2007, a bill that would impose harsher restrictions on cyber attacks and permit identity theft victims to seek financial restitution in federal court.
According to combined news agencies, the bill was presented by former Judiciary Committee Chairmen Senators Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-Delaware), in October, as the Cyber Crime Act of 2007.
The Act is designed to take current technological developments into account in the prosecution of cyber attacks, data and identity theft and the spread of computer viruses and trojans, in order to improve the prospects of success in damages claims.
Specifically, the Cyber Crime Act of 2007 would:
• Criminalize any threat to damage a computer network, or disclose confidential information illegally obtained from a network;
• Criminalize online conduct that causes limited damage to a large number of computers;
• Prohibit the creation of a bot-net, which a criminal could use to attack online businesses and other computer networks;
• Permit law enforcement to seize computer equipment and other property used to perpetrate computer crimes;
• Authorize the US Sentencing Commission to update their guidelines to reflect the severity of Internet crimes.