Leahy adds cybercrime measure to defense bill

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) filed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday that would increase the penalties for cybercrimes and make it a felony to damage a computer than controls systems critical to national security.

“Cybercrime is a growing threat to consumers and businesses, and it is one we can no longer ignore,” Leahy said in a news release. “This evolving threat compromises the nation’s defense and domestic security, and harms our economy.”

The amendment clarifies that only serious misconduct such as hacking should be prosecuted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, as opposed to relatively innocuous actions such as lying in an online profile or violating a site’s terms-of-use agreement. It would increase the criminal penalties for computer hacking and conspiracy to commit hacking.

The amendment also includes several changes proposed earlier this year by the Obama administration, including streamlining the criminal penalties for computer fraud and creating a new offense for damaging systems that control critical infrastructure such as transportation or public health networks.

Some of the increased penalties were part of Leahy’s Personal Data Privacy and Security Act, which passed the Judiciary Committee with two other data-security bills in September. Leahy has steered some form of data breach notification through the committee in the last three Congresses, but the efforts have failed on the floor of the Senate.

---