An Introduction to North Carolina Computer Crimes

By now, we’re all aware of last week’s crisis that caused people to hurry to the pumps and fill up on gas. If not, here’s the news: a hacker group launched a ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline, a company that operates pipelines for gasoline, causing shortages of gas and panic buying on the east coast. Most likely, any criminal action against the group will happen at the federal level, but this post highlights relevant North Carolina laws that could apply if this or any similar acts are prosecuted within this jurisdiction. Hacking and ransomware Hacking refers to the act of gaining unauthorized or illegal access to a computer network or system. Hackers gain access to sensitive or otherwise private information by exploiting weaknesses in computer security systems. The hackers then install ransomware or other viruses on the system to achieve an intended goal. Ransomware is a type of malicious software (or malware) used by hackers that is designed to block access to a computer system until money is paid (think remotely holding a computer hostage). Although “hacking” and “ransomware” are widely used terms, they are not referenced in the North Carolina statutes as such. Even so, our laws proscribe several acts that could involve hacking and using ransomware or other malware. Computer-related crime statutes North Carolina’s computer-related crimes are in Article 60 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes and include the following offenses: Accessing computers, G.S. 14-454 This offense involves willfully accessing or causing to be accessed a computer, computer [...]