These days, staying in the same job throughout a career is rare. When the employee-employer relationship ends, sometimes the parting is amicable. Less often, issues arise, and either party can become disgruntled. There are even examples of former employees accessing the employer’s computer even after access or use has been revoked.
In response to such employee behavior, employers can and have brought claims against previous or soon-to-be previous employees under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. §1030, which was originally enacted in 1984 to address “computer crime.” This phrase was then principally understood as referring to the “hacking” or trespassing into computer systems.
