Enzminger Discusses Computer Fraud and Abuse Act with the Daily Journal

Winston & Strawn partner David Enzminger was quoted in the March 26, 2013 Daily Journal article titled, "Recent Cases Shine Light on Circuit Split in Computer Fraud Law."

According to the article, several recent matters have illustrated the need to revisit the nearly 30-year-old Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which some legal observers say is out-of-date, overly broad, and ill-defined. There is currently a circuit split on the issue, which Mr. Enzminger said should be resolved by court order or statute.

"The law has some teeth," he said. "It carries some heavy penalties. But it's a federal statute, so it should have common application across the country."

Until the law is reformed, attorneys will continue to see a rise in computer hacking cases. While computer hacking has been pervasive for many years, businesses have recently gotten better at detecting misuse of their computer data, Mr. Enzminger noted. "Unfortunately hackers were more sophisticated than the defense for many years," he said. "Now government and private firms are doing a better job at detecting and at prosecuting it."