The Computer Misue Act

The Computer Misuse Act of 1990 is a law in the United Kingdom that makes certain activities illegal, such as hacking into other people’s systems, misusing software, or helping a person to gain access to protected files of someone else's computer. The act was created after the 1984-1985 R v. Gold case, which was appealed in 1988. The appeal was successful, inspiring parliament to create a law that would make punishable the behavior committed by Robert Schifreen and Stephen Gold.

The computer Misue act recognised the following new offences:
 - Unauthorised access to computer material
 - Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate a crime
 - Unoauthorised modification of computing material
 - Making, supplying or obtaining anything which can be used in computer misuse offences