Virginia Computer Crimes Act

The act governs the misuse of computers, computer networks, and computer data, defining a set of criminal offenses and attaching penalties to each. It reaches unauthorized access and interference — computer fraud, computer trespass, theft of computer services, and invasion of privacy — as well as conduct in which a computer is the instrument of another wrong, including forgery, harassment, fraudulent schemes built on false representations, unsolicited commercial email, and the harvesting of personal identifying information, and it treats the use of encryption to further criminal activity as its own offense. Alongside the criminal provisions it supplies the definitions the offenses depend on, classifies computer-related property for purposes of embezzlement, gives injured parties a civil action for damages, and states that these remedies supplement rather than replace others available at law.

Editorial summary generated from the text of this act. It is not part of the statute — read the sections below for the operative language.