Alan is a freshman in the computer science department. One of his professors embarrassed him in class and mocked him, saying that Alan will never be as good as she is with computers. In order to prove the professor wrong, Alan decided to break into the main computer at the Department of Defense and leave a note saying the professor is a spy. Alan hacked into the computer and left the message. He designed the message to erase itself after 13 hours, leaving no trail or damage to the computer. If Alan is discovered to be the hacker, has he committed a crime? Explain.
What will be an ideal response?
Yes, Alan has committed a crime by accessing a nonpublic government computer in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act as amended by the Patriot Act. Even though he left nothing permanent and even though he didn't steal, change, or damage information on the computer, the unauthorized access makes him criminally liable. He may not have realized that he was committing a crime; however, he understood that he was accessing a computer and in fact did so. Alan is in serious criminal trouble.
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