On December 13, 2018, the Harris County Law Library’s Legal Tech Institute will host the next installment in our LTI lecture series, Practical Cybersecurity for Lawyers, presented by guest speaker, Dustin Sachs, Senior Forensic Consultant at D4. Dustin’s presentation will focus on common attacks facing law firms and tips to prevent exposure of client data. Please join us!
In preparation for our December 13th CLE, today’s blog post will feature resources that define computer crimes, such as phishing, denial of service attacks, unauthorized access, and computer trespass, as well as the legal consequences of engaging in these types of activities.
Phishing: Deceptively obtaining sensitive information, including credentials, for personal online accounts
Denial of service attacks: Intentional cyberattack on a machine, website, or resource network that restricts users’ access
Unauthorized access: Illegitimate access to a website, program, server, or other system — or some part thereof — using another individual’s credentials
Computer trespass: Unauthorized access to a computer, computer service, or resource network to obtain privileged information or commit a criminal act
Additional examples of computer crimes can be found here and here (Texas). The National Conference of State Legislatures provides information about computer crime statutes in all 50 states. Finally, the DOJ Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) links to several resources including policies, manuals, guides, reports, speeches, and white papers on the criminal activity involving computers and other technology.