Britain Plans to Overhaul 32-Year-Old Law

The British government is proposing to give itself more law enforcement powers against hackers in a public consultation critics say is marred by a lack of concrete proposals to shield security researchers acting in good faith.

The conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled this month proposed updates to the U.K.’s principal anti-hacking law, the Computer Misuse Act of 1990. It proposes giving law enforcement the ability to seize IP addresses tied to cybercrime, to compel data preservation, and to further criminalize the possession of stolen data. Home Office officials have promised an updated law will include protection for white hat hackers but have yet to issue any concrete proposals for doing so.

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The 1990 law criminalizes unauthorized access to computer systems and data, as well as damaging or destroying either, and is intended to protect the security and integrity of systems and information.

There’s widespread agreement that the 32-year-old is overdue for an update. “There have been several amendments to the act, most recently in 2015, to ensure that U.K. legislation met the requirements of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime – Budapest Convention – and other relevant EU directives,” according to Britain’s Society for…