Safety First: Computer Security Laws and Acts

Advantages:

1. Due to the terms of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a person who deliberately implements "a program, code or instruction" to "cause damage" will be punished. http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1669
2. Justice will be served for hackers. A former student at the Univeristy of Texas "received... up to five years in prison for "reckless damage" of computers". http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/44498.html?wlc=1254439665
3. After hackers have been punished, they are less likely to commit the same crime again.
4. There are several websites to help people catch hackers. http://www.hackingalert.com/hacking-articles/detect-hackers.php
5. More and more hackers are captured every day because of technology.

Disadvantages:

1. Not all perpetrators are caught.
2. Even though one may be punished for a crime, the victim may have lost all data/files on his/her computer.
3. Sometimes people don't know that their computer is hacked and the criminal has access to their personal files.
4. A criminal could rob someone who banks online.
5. A hacker could rearrange and rename files to confuse the owner of the computer.