Computer Misuse Act
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UK plans to lock up cyberattackers for life
The Queen's speech is that moment when the government asks an 88-year-old to read out its legislative agenda for the forthcoming year. This time out, Her Majesty has got hackers in her royal sights, with harsh punishments promised for anyone caught messing around in someone else's code. Life sentences will be handed out for cyber attackers who steal industrial secrets, cause death, injury or compromise national security. Unfortunately, the broadly written law also suggests that scanning for vulnerabilities would be treated with similar scorn, which has gotten some security analysts hot under the collar. Governments implementing laws about technology without asking some experts first? Color us surprised.
Singapore teen facing jail for surfing with NeighborFi
Seventeen-year-old Garyl Tan Jia Luo has the distinct honor of being the first person charged under Singapore's new Computer Misuse Act. The alleged crime? Piggybacking on his neighbor's WiFi connection without permission. This apparently wouldn't have gone so far had the neighbor (we'll call him Mr. Wilson) not lodged a complaint against the teen. While Tan was released on bail after a grilling by police, he's facing some serious consequences for enjoying his free ride, including up to 10,000 Singapore dollars ($6,425) in fines and up to three years in jail. Given Signapore's plans to blanket the entire country in free WiFi, however, you'd think they'd go a little easy on him for jumping the gun.[Via The Register]
