Lawyers should have a basic understanding of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which provides criminal and civil penalties for wrongfully accessing a computer to do harmful things. They also should understand how to allege a loss under CFAA in a business case, which is not straightforward. Failing to satisfy this requirement means a court will not have jurisdiction over a CFAA civil claim. Consequently, many otherwise valid civil claims founder.
CFAA applies to the access of any computer connected to the Internet. Lawyers most commonly bring CFAA causes of action in civil cases when company insiders, usually departing employees, allegedly wrongfully access the company’s computers and improperly delete, alter or take information. CFAA also can apply when companies access competitors’ websites to gain competitive information in violation of the sites’ terms of service, create fictitious profiles to snoop about what people are doing online or wrongfully access other people’s paid online subscription services in violation of the services’ agreements.
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