Standard News

Hide Advertisement
  • Business
  • Culture
  • News
  • Technology
  • Trending
Site logo
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

U.S. appeals court upholds conviction over shared password

By Reuters 2 min read
Advertisement - Continue reading below
A magnifying glass is held in front of a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday gave the U.S. Department of Justice broad leeway to police password theft under a 1984 anti-hacking law, upholding the conviction of a former Korn/Ferry International executive for stealing confidential client data.

Advertisement

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said David Nosal violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in 2005 when he and two friends, who had also left Korn/Ferry, used an employee’s password to access the recruiting firm’s computers and obtain information to help start a new firm.

Writing for a 2-1 majority, Circuit Judge Margaret McKeown said Nosal acted “without authorization” even though the employee, his former secretary, had voluntarily provided her password.

The defendant had by then been working as an independent contractor for Korn/Ferry. Nosal and his friends had previously had their own log-in credentials revoked.

Nosal’s case has been closely watched by digital privacy groups worried that it could make it easier to prosecute people for ordinary password sharing, such as when a husband logs into his wife’s Facebook account with her credentials and permission.

“The court is criminalizing conduct that ordinary Americans do every day online,” Jamie Williams, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which supported overturning Nosal’s conviction, said in an interview.

Dennis Riordan, a lawyer for Nosal, said in a statement he will ask an 11-judge appeals court panel to review the decision.

A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment.

Nosal had been appealing his April 2013 jury conviction and one-year prison sentence for violating the CFAA and for trade secret theft under the Economic Espionage Act.

The appeals court on Tuesday upheld Nosal’s conviction under the EEA. It also ordered a recalculation of his $827,983 of restitution to Korn/Ferry to reconsider the legal fee component.

Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt dissented. He said the majority’s reasoning could cover the sharing of passwords to devices such as smartphones, laptops and iPads, and transform “millions of people who engage in this ubiquitous, useful, and generally harmless conduct into unwitting federal criminals.”

McKeown, however, said this approach ignored reality and could enable criminals to escape prosecution after they found obliging employees willing to “willy-nilly give out passwords.”

The appeals court had in April 2012 dismissed other counts accusing Nosal of CFAA violations.

The case is U.S. v. Nosal, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 14-10037.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Bill Rigby)

tagreuters.com2016binary_LYNXNPEC641IF-VIEWIMAGE

Advertisement - Continue reading below

North Carolina lawmaker dismisses U.S. deadline to change bathroom law
News
Reuters 3 min read

North Carolina lawmaker dismisses U.S. deadline to change bathroom law

Bernie Sanders-style, grassroots effort a likely model, say Trump donors
News
Reuters 3 min read

Bernie Sanders-style, grassroots effort a likely model, say Trump donors

A bar as a national monument? New York’s LGBT landmark vies for honor
News
Reuters 4 min read

A bar as a national monument? New York’s LGBT landmark vies for honor

U.S. must improve probes of police use of force: Obama
News
Reuters 2 min read

U.S. must improve probes of police use of force: Obama

U.S. court says Virginia transgender student can use boys’ bathroom
News
Reuters 1 min read

U.S. court says Virginia transgender student can use boys’ bathroom

Hermine pounds Florida, then churns north into Carolinas
News
Reuters 3 min read

Hermine pounds Florida, then churns north into Carolinas

Tropical Storm Colin gains speed, barrels toward Florida
News
Reuters 2 min read

Tropical Storm Colin gains speed, barrels toward Florida

Disney to post alligator warning signs after boy’s death
News
Reuters 3 min read

Disney to post alligator warning signs after boy’s death

From Bhangarh Fort to Shimla’s Tunnel No
Entertainment
Ethan Blake 8 min read

From Bhangarh Fort to Shimla’s Tunnel No

Obama, Clinton scold Trump over proposed Muslim ban
News
Reuters 4 min read

Obama, Clinton scold Trump over proposed Muslim ban

load more Loading posts...

sidebar

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

sidebar-alt

  • About Us
  • Imprint
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • For Advertisers