A new legal claim exists for business owners victimized by computer hackers. For many years, business owners had very few options when a known person, such as a disgruntled ex-employee, hacked into its computer system to obtain information illegally or to undertake other nefarious activities. Historically, such a business owner could sue under a traditional tort claim, such as trespass to chattel, or rely on the civil remedies provided in two criminal statutes, Florida’s Computer Crimes Act, Florida Statute §815.01 and the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. §1030. If the business owner knew that trade secret information was taken, the owner could sue for misappropriation of trade secrets under the Florida Uniform Trade Secret Act.
However, the Trade Secret Act is oftentimes not applicable, and the other two pre-existing statutes are criminal in nature, and thus, the courts have strictly and narrowly construed them. Thus, the prior remedies were limited in application.
