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.
- Jurisdiction
- United Kingdom
- Enacted
- 1990, amended 2006 and 2015
- Base offences
- Three: unauthorised access, further intent, unauthorised acts causing impairment
- Aggravated offence
- Serious-damage offence, potential life sentence
Common questions
When does the serious-damage offence under the CMA carry a potential life sentence rather than a lesser penalty?+
The enhanced penalty applies where the unauthorised act causes or risks serious damage to human welfare, the environment, the economy, or national security, most notably where critical infrastructure such as power, water or health systems is endangered. Ordinary unauthorised access or modification offences carry substantially lower maximum sentences.
How does this differ from the entry for Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA) elsewhere in the glossary?+
Both entries describe the same statute; this one frames it around its post-2015 structure of three base offences plus the serious-damage offence, while a differently worded companion entry emphasises the original 1990 offences and the specific amending Acts. They are not different laws.
Related terms
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- 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...