As part of your employment law case, an Irvine employment attorney may discuss the possible defenses and strategies that employers may use. One such argument is the federal law the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

About the Law

An Irvine employment lawyer may discuss that the original purpose of this particular law was to protect classified, financial and credit information stored on certain computers. At the time of its implementation, the act only protected against access by hackers and did not apply to unauthorized users. However, the act was subsequently broadened by amendments.

Defense Arguments

Due to the broader nature of the act, an Irvine employment attorney can explain that some employers try to threaten wronged employees with a claim under this act. They may allege that the employee intentionally accessed such a computer without having the appropriate authorization for such access. Employers may allege that an employee had the intention to defraud and used such a protected computer to further this fraud.

Authorization

Individuals can avoid being the defendants of such claims by not exceeding their authority on an employer’s computer system. If the individual is no longer employed with the company, he or she should not attempt to access the computer system. Even if the employee is still employed with the company, he or she should not try to exceed their authorization level by accessing the employer’s system. Likewise, employees should not try to remove confidential trade secret information.

Legal Assistance

If you would like more information about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, contact Daily Aljian LLP by calling 949-861-2524.