1. Computer Misuse Act 1990

2. INTRODUCTION The Computer Misuse Act became law in August 1990. Under the Act hacking and the introduction of viruses are criminal offences. The following sections describe the types of offence and suggest a range of internal penalties. DEFINITION The Act identifies three specific offences: Unauthorised access to computer material (that is, a program or data). Unauthorised access to a computer system with intent to commit or facilitate the commission of a serious crime. Unauthorised modification of computer material.

3. Punishment for committing an offence The offences are punishable as follows: Offence 1. Up to 6 months' prison and up to £5,000 in fines. Offences 2 and 3. Up to 5 years in prison and any size of fine (there is no limit).

4. Hacker The term used to refer to someone skilled in the use of computer systems, especially if that skill was obtained in an exploratory way. The term evolved to be applied to individuals, with or without skill, who break into security systems. This is someone who enjoys exploring and learning about computer systems. It is often confused with cracker, which is a person who has a mischievous attitude and often attempts to break into computer systems.

5. Who is Vladimir Levin Vladimir Levin, a biochemistry graduate of St. Petersburg's Tekhnologichesky University in mathematics, led a Russian hacker group in the first publicly revealed international bank robbery over a network. Levin used a laptop computer in London, England, to access the Citibank network, and then obtained a list of customer codes and passwords. Then he logged on 18 times over a period of weeks and transferred $3.7 million through wire transfers to accounts his group controlled in the United States, Finland,the Netherlands, Germany, and Israel. Citibank later retrieved all but about $400,000.