Legal Question in Technology Law in Nevada
Unauthorized Access
I was arrested on two counts: Type 1 felony:unauthorized acccess to a government system and type 2 felony:tampering with government documents. No damage was done, three people were involved, I recieved the usernames and passwords from the other two to access the system. Two changes were apparently posted to the sytsem, in favor of the university. The governemnt system was the university system of where i go to school. My bond was set at 7,500 for each count and I have been out on bail for about 4 weeks now and have not heard anything from anyone. What do you think will happen?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Unauthorized Access
Depends on the damage done, but a usual penalty is to have a suspended sentence and be put on probation, the condition being no computer access except in very controlled situations for some period, such as two years.
Some hackers & crackers end up as security consultants. I suggest you offer to do that for free in atonement if there is anyone interested in having you do it.
I hope this is a shocking wake up call to you not to do this stuff. Stealing MP3 or software with Grokster or Morpheus is one thing, but breaking into secure sites is pure stupidity and, as you know, a felony (meaning subject to hard jail time). Most hackers & crackers just have to tell others what they did, and that is why they get caught. So much is available openly, there is really no reason to be doing that unless you have criminal intent and then you deserve what you get.