Commentary on the United States Supreme Court Decision in Van Buren v. United States No. 19-783 of June 3, 2021

Sabra, Ibrahim

doi:10.21608/ijdjl.2022.106642.1130

Commentary on the United States Supreme Court Decision in Van Buren v. United States No. 19-783 of June 3, 2021

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Ibrahim Sabra

- Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Law, British University in Egypt - Researcher at the Centre for Law and Emerging Technologies, Faculty of Law, British University in Egypt

10.21608/ijdjl.2022.106642.1130

Abstract

Our world has witnessed myriad technological breakthroughs that have greatly contributed to the progress of societies in many ways. At the forefront of these contributions comes the digital transformation we have been experiencing in the workplace whether in public or private institutions. This has tremendously helped manage resources more efficiently, save time, reduce bureaucracy, enhance transparency, fight corruption, etc. Nevertheless, such transformation does not come without challenges, on top of which is the prevalence of cybercrime against numerous institutions.

One of the misconceptions about cybercrime is the common belief that they are external threats executed by outsiders, targeting institutions for financial, political or social reasons. But this is not always true since internal threats also pose a huge risk, represented in an existing employee or a business partner who has legitimate access to the company’s systems and data, and who may use such access to destroy or steal data, or sabotage the company’s system. This could be a result of coercion, extortion or out of revenge.

Therefore, this Commentary attempts to shed light on the issue of Internal Hackers through an analytical and critical analysis of the court decision in question, which addresses one of the most intricate cybercrimes, namely “exceeding authorised access” to computer systems. This crime stems from the “unauthorized access” cybercrime, which remains controversial despite being tackled by many courts over the last three decades.

The Commentary begins by listing the facts of the case, then stating what the court has held. After that, it presents the court reasoning and later moves to an analysis of those reasons, and finally ends with concluding remarks.

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