Chapter 1
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
In the early 1980s law enforcement agencies faced the dawn of the computer
age with growing concern about the lack of criminal laws available to fight the
emerging computer crimes. Although the wire and mail fraud provisions of
the federal criminal code were capable of addressing some types of computer-
related criminal activity, neither of those statutes provided the full range of
tools needed to combat these new crimes. See H.R. Rep. No. 98-894, at 6
(1984), reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3689, 3692.
In response, Congress included in the Comprehensive Crime Control Act
of 1984 provisions to address the unauthorized access and use of computers and
computer networks. The legislative history indicates that Congress intended
these provisions to provide “a clearer statement of proscribed activity” to “the
law enforcement community, those who own and operate computers, as well
as those who may be tempted to commit crimes by unauthorized access.” Id.
Congress did this by making it a felony to access classified information in
a computer without authorization, and a misdemeanor to access financial
records or credit histories stored in a financial institution or to trespass into a
government computer. In so doing, Congress opted not to add new provisions
regarding computers to existing criminal laws, but rather to address federal
computer-related offenses in a single, new statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1030.
Even after enacting section 1030, Congress continued to investigate
problems associated with computer crime to determine whether federal
criminal laws required further revision. Throughout 1985, both the House
and the Senate held hearings on potential computer crime bills, continuing the
efforts begun in the year before. These hearings culminated in the Computer
Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), enacted by Congress in 1986, which amended
18 U.S.C. § 1030.
In the CFAA, Congress attempt