6 U.S.C. § 657: Cyber Security Enhancement Act…

Summary

Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and, if needed, change its penalty rules for people convicted of computer crimes under 18 U.S.C. 1030. The Commission must make the rules reflect how serious and common these crimes are and the need to deter them. It must consider factors such as potential or actual loss, how planned or sophisticated the offense was, whether it was for profit, malicious intent, privacy harms, use of government computers tied to defense or security, harm to critical infrastructure, and threats to public health or safety. The Commission must also keep rules consistent with other directives, allow for extra bad or unusual circumstances, make any needed follow-up edits, and meet the sentencing purposes in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)(2). By May 1, 2003, the Sentencing Commission must send a short report to Congress saying what it did and any recommendations about penalties for 18 U.S.C. 1030. Any government entity that makes a disclosure under 18 U.S.C. 2702(b) must report to the Attorney General within 90 days with the paragraph used, the date, who got the disclosure, how many customers or subscribers were involved, and how many communications were disclosed. The Attorney General must combine those reports and send one report to Congress 1 year after November 25, 2002.

Title 6, §657

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(a)Short title

This section may be cited as the “Cyber Security Enhancement Act of 2002”.

(b)Amendment of sentencing guidelines relating to certain computer crimes

(1)Directive to the United States Sentencing Commission

Pursuant to its authority under section 994(p) of title 28 and in accordance with this subsection, the United States Sentencing Commission shall review and, if appropriate, amend its guidelines and its policy statements applicable to persons convicted of an offense under section 1030 of title 18.

(2)Requirements

In carrying out this subsection, the Sentencing Commission shall—

(A)ensure that the sentencing guidelines and policy statements reflect the serious nature of the offenses described in paragraph (1), the growing incidence of such offenses, and the need for an effective deterrent and appropriate punishment to prevent such offenses;

(B)consider the following factors and the extent to which the guidelines may or may not account for them—

(i)the potential and actual loss resulting from the offense;

(ii)the level of sophistication and planning involved in the offense;

(iii)whether the offense was committed for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial benefit;

(iv)whether the defendant acted with malicious intent to cause harm in committing the offense;

(v)the extent to which the offense violated the privacy rights of individuals harmed;

(vi)whether the offense involved a computer used by the government in furtherance of national defense, national security, or the administration of justice;

(vii)whether the violation was intended to or had the effect of significantly interfering with or disrupting a critical infrastructure; and

(viii)whether the violation was intended to or had the effect of creating a threat to public health or safety, or injury to any person;

(C)assure reasonable consistency with other relevant directives and with other sentencing guidelines;

(D)account for any additional aggravating or mitigating circumstances that might justify exceptions to the generally applicable sentencing ranges;

(E)make any necessary conforming changes to the sentencing guidelines; and

(F)assure that the guidelines adequately meet the purposes of sentencing as set forth in section 3553(a)(2) of title 18.

(c)Study and report on computer crimes

Not later than May 1, 2003, the United States Sentencing Commission shall submit a brief report to Congress that explains any actions taken by the Sentencing Commission in response to this section and includes any recommendations the Commission may have regarding statutory penalties for offenses under section 1030 of title 18.

(d)Emergency disclosure exception

(1)Omitted

(2)Reporting of disclosures

A government entity that receives a disclosure under section 2702(b) of title 18 shall file, not later than 90 days after such disclosure, a report to the Attorney General stating the paragraph of that section under which the disclosure was made, the date of the disclosure, the entity to which the disclosure was made, the number of customers or subscribers to whom the information disclosed pertained, and the number of communications, if any, that were disclosed. The Attorney General shall publish all such reports into a single report to be submitted to Congress 1 year after November 25, 2002.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 145 of this title prior to renumbering by Pub. L. 115–278. Section is comprised of section 2207 of Pub. L. 107–296. Subsecs. (d)(1) and (e) to (j) of section 2207 of Pub. L. 107–296 amended section 1030, 2511, 2512, 2520, 2701 to 2703, and 3125 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.

§657 Cyber Security Enhancement Act of 2002

Summary

Title 6, §657

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Citations & Metadata