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> The Misuse of Computers
I am sure by now that many of you would have
read in the news not too long ago about two lawyers being charged
in Court with offences under the Computer Misuse Act (Cap.50A)
for unauthorised copying of computer files from their employer's
computer systems after they had tendered their resignations.
Or how about the case of the seventeen year old
student who was sentence to two months imprisonment for committing
offences also under the Computer Misuse Act? He pleaded guilty
to charges of hacking into a computer system to obtain free
internet services.
Come to think of it, a lot of us use computers
in our everyday lives, especially at work. Yet most of us know
little about the Computer Misuse Act (the "Act") and
some of us may even be breaking the law without knowing it.
So what is this Act all about and how does it affect us?
Types of offences under the Act
In general terms, the Act sets out a few types
of criminal offences most of which involve the unauthorised
use of computers, namely: access to computer material; modification
to computer material; use or interception of computer service;
obstruction of use of computer; and disclosure of access code.
Another criminal offence covered by the Act deals with the access
of computers with the intent to commit or facilitate the commission
of an offence.
Unauthorised access to computer material
It is an offence if a person knowingly changes,
erases, copies, moves, prints or even uses a program or data
in a computer without permission. The sentence on conviction
is a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding 2 years or both.
Examples of this type of offence include the
copying or deletion by the employee of client data and sales
information from a company after his permission to do so has
been revoked.
Unauthorised modification of computer material
This is an offence whereby a person knowingly
and without authority does an act which causes the contents
of a computer to be changed, erased, added to or impairs the
normal operations of the computer. The sentence on conviction
is a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding 3 years or to both.
This type of offence usually refers to the hacking
into of computer server systems vandalising it or leaving malicious
computer viruses.
Unauthorised use or interception of a computer
service
Any person who knowingly and without authority:
(i) secures access to any computer to obtain services; or (ii)
intercepts, records or listens to a function or a communication
to or from a computer; or (iii) uses any other device to carry
out acts (i) or (ii), shall be guilty of an offence and the
sentence on conviction is a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or both.
These offences would refer to the hacking of
computer systems for the purpose of gaining free internet services
or to carry out spying activities.
Unauthorised obstruction of the use of a computer
Any person who, knowingly and without authority
or lawful excuse: (i) interferes, interrupts or obstructs the
use of a computer; or (ii) impedes or prevent access to, or
impairs the usefulness or effectiveness of a program or data
stored in a computer shall be guilty of an offence punishable
upon conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 3 years or both.
An example of this offence would be email bombing.
Unauthorised disclosure of access code
It is an offence to disclose one's access code
to any program or data held in any computer if the disclosure
was for a wrongful gain, unlawful purpose or with the knowledge
that it is likely to cause wrongful loss to any person. If found
guilty, a fine not exceeding $10,000 is imposed or imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 3 years or both.
Access with intent to commit or facilitate
commission of an offence
Any person who changes, erases, copies, moves,
prints or even uses a program or data from a computer, whether
or not he was authorised to do so, with the intention to commit
an offence involving property, fraud, dishonesty or which causes
bodily harm shall be guilty of an offence and the sentence on
conviction is a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.
Enhanced Punishments
A greater penalty other that the ones mentioned
above will be imposed by the Courts: (i) if any damage is caused
as a result of offences committed under the Act involving unauthorised
usage of computers; or (ii) if a person has been convicted for
the same offence before
In addition, persons committing offences under
the Act involving unauthorised usage or access of computers
that are used in connection with national security, public safety
and key infrastructure will also suffer greater penalty, that
is, sentencing on conviction is a fine not exceeding $100,000
or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 20 years or both.
Scope of the Act
The Act applies to Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans
alike and any offence committed under the Act outside of Singapore
may be treated as being committed within Singapore.
In addition the Act will apply if at the time
of the commission of the offence, either the person accused
of committing the offence or the computer, program or data in
question was in Singapore.
Police Investigative Powers
If a police officer has reasonable cause to suspect
that a computer is or has been used in connection with any offences
under the Act, he may be entitled at any time to have access
to and inspect the operation of the computer and with the consent
of the Public Prosecutor may require the person having charge
of the computer to release information sufficient for the police
officer to decrypt scrambled data held in the computer for inspection
and investigation.
Conclusion
The presence of computers will continue to permeate
our lives more and more with each passing day, and so will its
importance in our lives as we hand over to it the operation
of increasingly complex and life critical tasks.
Parliament having recognised that there
will always be some among us who will choose to disrupt and
take advantage of this reliance on computers for self gain,
choose way back in 1993 to enact the Computer Misuse Act. Parliament
then followed up in 1998 to update and enhance the provisions
of the Act so that it continues to serve as a form of protection
against these people and as a deterrence against the commission
of more computer crimes.
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