Security News > 2021 > May > UK's Computer Misuse Act to be reviewed, says Home Secretary as she condemns ransomware payoffs
Priti Patel has promised a government review of the UK's 30-year-old Computer Misuse Act "This year" as well as condemning companies that buy off ransomware criminals.
"As part of ensuring that we have the right tools and mechanisms to detect, disrupt and deter our adversaries, I believe now is the right time to undertake a formal review of the Computer Misuse Act," said Patel.
Passed in 1990, the Computer Misuse Act was last majorly amended in 2008, lengthening prison sentences available and clearly criminalising DDoS attacks, something that was felt by government to be unclear at the time.
"Ed Parsons, exec veep of consulting at F-Secure, which supports the CyberUp campaign to reform the CMA, told The Register:"I would welcome an official review of the Computer Misuse Act and encourage the Home Secretary to consider the proposed reforms set out in the Criminal Law Reform Now Network's report last year.
The Home Secretary also delivered a direct attack on companies that pay off ransomware criminals in the hope of decrypting their data and preventing publication of trade secrets, staffers' personal data and more.
Patel's condemnation comes shortly after the multinational Ransomware Taskforce, a public-private offshoot of the US-based Institute for Security and Technology, pointed out in a report [PDF] that ransom funds "May be used for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, human trafficking, and other virulent global criminal activity".