Computer Misuse Act (CMA)
Definition
UK statute enacted in 1990 and substantially amended in 2006 and 2015. Creates three base offences (unauthorised access, access with further intent, unauthorised acts causing impairment) and a serious-damage offence carrying a potential life sentence where critical infrastructure or human welfare is endangered.
Related terms
- Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (BSA)
- India's current evidence statute, which replaced the Indian Evidence Act 1872. Section 63 of the BSA governs electronic records and requires a...
- Budapest Convention
- The Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (2001), the first binding international treaty on cyber offences. Requires signatory states to criminalise illegal...
- Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)
- 18 U.S.C. § 1030, the primary US federal computer crime statute. Criminalises unauthorised access to protected computers, data theft, system damage, and...
- Connecting factor
- A jurisdictional link between an offence and a state: the offender's location, the victim's location, where the targeted system operates, or the...
- Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT)
- A bilateral or multilateral treaty under which signatory states agree to assist each other in gathering evidence for criminal investigations. MLATs define...
Explained in
- Computer Crime Statutes and Global Legal FrameworksUK statute enacted in 1990 and substantially amended in 2006 and 2015. Creates three base offences (unauthorised access, access with further intent, unauthoris...