The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) has a provision that makes it unlawful to "knowingly cause the transmission of a program, information, code, or command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally cause damage without authorization, to a protected computer." Can a person violate that provision of the CFAA by deleting data on his or her own computer? A recent federal case answered that question. Plaintiff sued its former chief technology officer under the CFAA after it learned that the former executive wiped the hard drive of his personal laptop he had used for company business. Defendant moved to dismiss, arguing primarily that the purpose of the CFAA is to target hackers. And he argued that there is a circuit split over what it means for an employee to access a computer without authorization or in excess of authorization.
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