The too long arm of the law

The UK’s main law against IT criminals, the Computer Misuse Act, is 16 years old this year. The Act has received plenty of criticism, and led to only a few prosecutions, but recent interpretations and proposed changes are worrying.

Last year's case of Daniel Cuthbert determined that something as simple as checking for basic vulnerabilities on a website might be considered an offence. Having made a donation to a Tsunami appeal, he became concerned that the site he'd handed his credit card details to might be a fake, so he did some gentle probing. Cuthbert's checks set off the IDS, and he was later treated to the obligatory knock on the door.

Carrying this logic across to more conventional crime, if I suspect my elderly neighbour has left her door unlocked and test the handle, should I be convicted of attempted burglary? If not, why take a different approach to computer law?

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