Senate Bill 2321

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-45-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO MIRROR CERTAIN ELEMENTS OF FEDERAL COMPUTER FRAUD; TO CRIMINALIZE THE UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OF A COMPUTER; TO CRIMINALIZE THE ACCESS OF A PROTECTED COMPUTER WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD AND GAIN A THING OF VALUE; TO CRIMINALIZE THE ACCESS OF A COMPUTER WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD AND TRAFFIC PASSWORDS; TO CRIMINALIZE THE TRANSMISSION OF COMMUNICATION TO EXTORT FROM ANY PERSON ANY MONEY OR OTHER THING OF VALUE; TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS RELATED TO COMPUTER FRAUD; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 97-45-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

97-45-3. (1) Computer fraud is the accessing or causing to be accessed of any computer, computer system, computer network or any part thereof with the intent to:

(a) Defraud;

(b) Obtain money, property or services by means of false or fraudulent conduct, practices or representations; or through the false or fraudulent alteration, deletion or insertion of programs or data; * * * or

(c) Insert or attach or knowingly create the opportunity for an unknowing and unwanted insertion or attachment of a set of instructions or a computer program into a computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network, that is intended to acquire, alter, damage, delete, disrupt, or destroy property or otherwise use the services of a computer program, computer, computer system or computer network * * *.;

(d) Access a computer without authorization or exceed authorized access, and thereby obtain:

(i) Information contained in a financial record of a financial institution, or of a card issuer as defined in 15 U.S.C. § 1602(n), or contained in a file of a consumer reporting agency on a consumer, as such terms are defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.);

(ii) Information from the state, political subdivision of the state, or the United States government; or

(iii) Information from any protected computer;

(e) Defraud, accesses a protected computer without authorization, or exceeds authorized access, and by means of such conduct furthers the intended fraud and obtains anything of value, unless the object of the fraud and the thing obtained consists only of the use of the computer and the value of such use is not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) in any one-year period;

(f) Defraud, traffics (as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1029) in any password or similar information through which a computer may be accessed without authorization; or

(g) Extort from any person any money or other thing of value, transmits any communication containing any:

(i) Threat to cause damage to a protected computer;

(ii) Threat to obtain information from a protected computer without authorization or in excess of authorization or to impair the confidentiality of information obtained from a protected computer without authorization or by exceeding authorized access; or

(iii) Demand or request for money or other thing of value in relation to damage to a protected computer, where such damage was caused to facilitate the extortion.

(2) Whoever commits the offense of computer fraud when the damage or loss or attempted damage or loss amounts to a value of less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) may be punished, upon conviction, by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months in the county jail, or by both, if the court finds substantial and compelling reasons why the offender cannot be safely and effectively supervised in the community, is not amenable to community-based treatment, or poses a significant risk to public safety. If such a finding is not made, the court shall suspend the sentence of imprisonment and impose a period of probation not exceeding one (1) year or a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or both. Any person convicted of a third or subsequent offense under this subsection where the value of the property is not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), shall be imprisoned in the Penitentiary for a term not exceeding three (3) years or fined an amount not exceeding Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00), or both.

(3) Whoever commits the offense of computer fraud when the damage or loss or attempted damage or loss amounts to a value of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or more, but less than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), may be punished, upon conviction, by a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) or by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(4) Whoever commits the offense of computer fraud when the damage or loss or attempted damage or loss amounts to a value of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or more, but less than Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), may be punished, upon conviction, by a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) or by imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(5) Whoever commits the offense of computer fraud when the damage or loss or attempted damage or loss amounts to a value of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25.000.00) or more, may be punished, upon conviction, by a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) or by imprisonment for not more than twenty (20) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(6) * * * ~~The definition of the~~ As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed herein:

(a) "Computer" means an electronic, magnetic, optical, electrochemical, or other high speed-data processing device performing logical, arithmetic, or storage functions, and includes any data storage facility or communications facility directly related to or operating in conjunction with such device, but such term does not include an automated typewriter or typesetter, a portable hand-held calculator, or other similar device;

(b) "Computer network" includes the internet, as defined in Section 230 of Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, Chapter 652, 110 Stat. 137, codified at 47 * * * ~~USCS~~ USC § 230 * * *.;

(d) "Exceeds authorized access" means to access a computer with authorization and to use such access to obtain or alter information in the computer that the accessor is not entitled so to obtain or alter;

(e) "Financial institution" has the meaning assigned in 18 USC § 1030(e)(4);

(f) "Loss" means any reasonable cost to any victim, including the cost of responding to an offense, conducting a damage assessment, and restoring the data, program, system, or information to its condition prior to the offense, and any revenue lost, cost incurred, or other consequential damages incurred because of interruption of service;

(g) "Political subdivision" has the meaning assigned in Section 11-46-1(i);

(h) "Protected computer" means a computer:

(i) Exclusively for the use of a financial institution, the state, a political subdivision of the state, or the United States government, or, in the case of a computer not exclusively for such use, used by or for a financial institution, the state, a political subdivision of the state, or the United States government and the conduct constituting the offense affects that use by or for the financial institution, the state, a political subdivision of the state, or the United States government; or

(ii) That:

1. Is part of a voting system regulated under Article 15, Chapter 15, Title 23, Mississippi Code of 1972; and

2. Is used for the management, support, or administration of a state, local, or federal election.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.