Andrea Matwyshyn and DOJ’s new CFAA Charging Policy

The Lawfare Podcast

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4.7 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 June 2022

⏱️ 42 minutes

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Summary

On May 19, the Department of Justice announced a new policy concerning how it will charge cases under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or CFAA, the primary statute used against those who engage in unlawful computer intrusions. Over the years, the statute has been criticized because it has been difficult to determine the kinds of conduct it criminalizes, which has led to a number of problems, including the chilling of security research.

Stephanie Pell sat down with Andrea Matwyshyn, professor of law and associate dean of innovation at Penn State Law School to discuss DOJ's new charging policy and some of the issues it attempts to address. They talked about some of the problems created by the CFAA's vague terms, how the new charging policy tries to protect good faith security research, and the significance of the requirement that prosecutors must now consult with the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property section at main Justice before charging a case under the CFAA.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast contains advertising to access an ad-free version of the LawFair
0:07.2	podcast become a material supporter of LawFair at patreon.com slash LawFair.
0:14.7	That's patreon.com slash LawFair.
0:18.2	Also, check out LawFair's other podcast offerings, rational security, chatter, LawFair
0:25.6	no bull and the aftermath.
0:34.0	So those consultation requirements while they may not appear to be a big deal or a key
0:42.3	modifier of the charging policy clarifications, I think that set of consultation requirements
0:52.6	and best practices will materially help to address some of the types of concerns that
1:00.8	we've seen raised by the early CFA.
1:07.0	I'm Stephanie Pell and this is the LawFair podcast June 28, 2022.
1:13.4	On May 19th, the Department of Justice announced a new policy concerning how it will charge
1:18.8	cases under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act or CFA, the primary statute used against
1:25.9	those who engage in unlawful computer intrusions.
1:30.4	Over the years, the statute has been criticized because it has been difficult to determine
1:35.4	the kinds of conduct it criminalizes, which has led to a number of problems, including
1:41.4	the chilling of security research.
1:44.3	I sat down with Andrea Matwishan, Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Innovation at
1:49.8	Penn State Law School to discuss DOJ's new charging policy and some of the issues it
1:56.0	attempts to address.
1:58.2	We talked about some of the problems created by the CFA's vague terms.
2:03.5	How the new charging policy tries to protect good faith security research and the significance
2:09.7	of the requirement the prosecutors must now consult with the Computer Crimes and Intellectual
	...

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