Obama Administration Proposals for Cybersecurity Legislation

Responding to ongoing concerns over the state of U.S. cybersecurity, the Obama Administration released a report containing a proposal for significant cybersecurity legislation on May 12, 2011. The Administration’s proposal contains seven sections and addresses many different subject areas. This book examines the first section of the Administration’s proposal, dealing with criminal law. That section would supplement the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) by adding a mandatory three-year minimum penalty for damaging certain critical infrastructure computer, increase the penalties for most violations of the CFAA, modify the conspiracy and forfeiture provisions of the CFAA, and make felony violation of the CFAA a racketeering predicate offence.