Petersburg – Virginia Computer Crimes Laws
As per the Code of Virginia,
- 18.2-152.4. Computer trespass; penalty.
- It shall be unlawful for any person, with malicious intent, to:
- Temporarily or permanently remove, halt, or otherwise disable any computer data, computer programs or computer software from a computer or computer network;
- Cause a computer to malfunction, regardless of how long the malfunction persists;
- Alter, disable, or erase any computer data, computer programs or computer software;
- Effect the creation or alteration of a financial instrument or of an electronic transfer of funds;
- Use a computer or computer network to cause physical injury to the property of another;
- Use a computer or computer network to make or cause to be made an unauthorized copy, in any form, including, but not limited to, any printed or electronic form of computer data, computer programs or computer software residing in, communicated by, or produced by a computer or computer network;
- [Repealed.]
- Install or cause to be installed, or collect information through, computer software that records all or a majority of the keystrokes made on the computer of another without the computer owner’s authorization; or
- Install or cause to be installed on the computer of another, computer software for the purpose of (i) taking control of that computer so that it can cause damage to another computer or (ii) disabling or disrupting the ability of the computer to share or transmit instructions or data to other computers or to any related computer equipment or devices, including but not limited to printers, scanners, or fax machines.
The Penalty on Any Offender Caught Violating the Computer Crime Laws
According to this code
“Any person who violates this section is guilty of computer trespass, which shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Any person found in violation as per this section just for the motive of altering a computer used exclusively for, or by,
- the Commonwealth or any local government within the Commonwealth or any department or agency thereof or
- a provider of telephone, including wireless or voice over Internet protocol, oil, electric, gas, sewer, wastewater, or water service to the public is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
If the property damage of another person is found to be of value $1,000 or more, it will be treated as a Class 6 felony. If an individual causes or installs a computer software of above five computers of some other individual which is considered a violation, this offense will be treated as a Class 6 felony.
Prohibitions According to the Virginia Computer Crimes Act
As per the list of The Virginia Computer Crimes Act, the following are prohibited offenses:
- Theft of Computer Services: Intentionally gaining computer services without authorization
- Spam: when a network or computer is used to forge email transmission information or send unsolicited advertisements
- Personally Identifying Information: when a network or computer is used to get personally identifying data
- Harassment by Computer: when a network or computer is used to intimidate, coerce, or harass someone
- Computer Trespass: halting, removing, disabling, or producing a malfunction
- Computer Invasion of Privacy: when a network or computer is used deliberately examine confidential information.
- Computer Fraud: when a network or computer is used without authority to steal or embezzle