IS3350 Security Issues in Legal Context Unit 8 Cyberspace and the Law

© ITT Educational Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

IS3350 Security Issues in Legal Context

Unit 8

Cyberspace and the Law

© ITT Educational Services, Inc. All rights reserved.Page 2IS3350 Security Issues in Legal Context

Learning Objectives

Describe the role of contracts in online transactions and cyberspace.

Identify cybercrime and tort law issues in cyberspace.


Key Concepts

General principles of contract lawContracts in cyberspace and online

transactionsGeneral principles of criminal lawCybercrimeTort concepts in cyberspace


EXPLORE: CONCEPTS


Contract Law

Clarify relationships between individuals, groups, and organizations

Formed by two elements: offer and acceptance

Accepted offer and terms are binding on both parties

Terms are enforceable in a court of law


Contract Law (Continued)

Oral and Written ContractsSpecific types of contracts must be written

down and must be signed• Written to Prevent Fraud • Contracts for the sale of land

Contracts require reciprocal exchange of value


Tort and Criminal Law

Tort law is part of civil law• Refers to wrongful acts or harm for which an

individual can sue the person who caused the harm• Governs disputes between individuals• Follows what is called The Reasonable Man

standardCriminal law deals with violations against

societal norms


Three Categories of Tort Law• Strict Liability

• Responsible for actions even if no intent to cause harm to another person.

• Negligence • Liable for any injuries or harm that are the

foreseeable consequences of actions when "Due Care” was not exercised

• Intentional • Intention to commit the act is demonstrated • Often share many common elements with a crime


Characteristics of Criminal Law Criminal law aims to deter wrongful behavior

• Punishment for behavior• Rehabilitation of the offender

Society recognizes two basic types of wrongful conduct• Conduct universally agreed to be wrong or dangerous

to others• Conduct that isn’t inherently wrong, but society

prohibits it Misdemeanors and Felonies

• Misdemeanors are minor crimes• Felonies are more serious crimes


Online Contracting

Underlying transactions are the same for online contracts and traditional contracts

Make transacting business easier Create problems for the contracting parties and

for the law Traditional law assumes the parties know one

another prior to entering into a contract Contracting over the Internet makes it unlikely

that they’re in the same state, geographical region, or even country


Online Contracting (Continued)

Jurisdiction is an important issue for online contracts

Contract forms when the offering party receives an acceptance

People encounter special types of online contracts every day

Clicking on the "I Agree" button without reading or understanding agreement


Online Contracting (Continued)

End-user license agreement (EULA) • Contract between the manufacturer or

distributor of a piece of software or a service and the end-user of the application• States how the software or service can be

used.• Contracts are accepted by removing the

cellophane wrap• Shrink-wrap contracts


Cybercrime

Cybercrimes are crimes that use computers93% of all discovered data breaches were

linked to organized crime Identity theft and data theft is a multi-billion

dollar a year industryFederal and State laws created to address

cybercrimeDifficult to track the criminals


Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)

• Unauthorized access of security information

• Unauthorized access to protected computers

• Intentional transmission of malware, viruses, or worms that damage a protected computer

• Unauthorized trafficking of passwords or other computer access information

• Extortion involving threats to damage a protected computer


EXPLORE: CONTEXT


Cybertorts

Torts arising from Internet communicationsTraditional violations of intellectual property right Intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED)Harassment can occur in cyberspaceCyber trespassViolating the right to privacy


Summary

General principles of contract lawContracts in cyberspace and online

transactionsGeneral principles of criminal lawCybercrimeTort concepts in cyberspace

Documents

IS3350 Security Issues in Legal Context Unit 8 Cyberspace and the Law