Bipartisan Senate bill would strengthen cybercrime penalties | CyberScoop<\/title> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cybercrime-computer-fraud-bill-senate\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bipartisan Senate bill would strengthen cybercrime penalties\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The legislation from Sens. 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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--event js-stickybar\">\n<div class=\"stickybar__details\" readability=\"5.12\">\n<div class=\"stickybar__info js-sticky-bar-content\" readability=\"32\">\n<p>Nominations can be submitted for the 2025 CyberScoop 50 awards!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <a class=\"stickybar__link button button-tertiary\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cyberscoop50\/\">Click here!<\/a> <\/div>\n<p> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.657243816254\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"34.299212598425\">\n<p> The legislation from Sens. Rounds and Gillibrand would amend federal criminal code on computer fraud and stiffen punishments. <\/p>\n<p>  <br \/>\n<audio id=\"audio-player\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-tts-cdn.api.scpnewsgrp.com\/cyberscoop\/83465\/english.openai.mp3\"><\/audio> <\/p>\n<div readability=\"11\">\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p>0:00<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p> <span id=\"tts-tooltip\">Learn more.<\/span> <span> This feature uses an automated voice, which may result in occasional errors in pronunciation, tone, or sentiment. <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/bipartisan-senate-bill-would-strengthen-cybercrime-penalties.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/bipartisan-senate-bill-would-strengthen-cybercrime-penalties-2.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/bipartisan-senate-bill-would-strengthen-cybercrime-penalties-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/bipartisan-senate-bill-would-strengthen-cybercrime-penalties-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/bipartisan-senate-bill-would-strengthen-cybercrime-penalties-2.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/bipartisan-senate-bill-would-strengthen-cybercrime-penalties-2.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/bipartisan-senate-bill-would-strengthen-cybercrime-penalties-2.jpg?resize=505,337 505w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/bipartisan-senate-bill-would-strengthen-cybercrime-penalties-2.jpg?resize=1012,675 1012w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1012px) 100vw, 1012px\"><figcaption> Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., talks to reporters as he heads to the floor of the Senate for a vote on Capitol Hill on Feb. 11, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Samuel Corum\/Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"19.960873146623\"><body readability=\"40.176848874598\"><\/p>\n<p>Cybercrimes could be punished more harshly under a new bill from a pair of senators that seeks to amend U.S. criminal code on computer fraud.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rounds.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/cyber_conspiracy_modernization_act.pdf\">Cyber Conspiracy Modernization Act<\/a> from Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., would modify the <a href=\"https:\/\/uscode.house.gov\/view.xhtml?req=(title:18%20section:1030%20edition:prelim)#:~:text=%C2%A71030.,activity%20in%20connection%20with%20computers&text=(C)%20intentionally%20accesses%20a%20protected,conduct%2C%20causes%20damage%20and%20loss.\">Computer Fraud and Abuse Act<\/a> (CFAA) to establish a specific penalty for conspiracy and boost penalties for violators. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs cyber technologies continue to rapidly evolve, we need more people working to secure cyberspace as well as harsher penalties for those perpetrating these crimes,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rounds.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/rounds-introduces-cybersecurity-bills-to-strengthen-penalties-for-cybercrimes-incentivize-cyber-workforce\">Rounds said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cAs chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee\u2019s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, I am committed to working on policies that strengthen the United States\u2019 ability to respond quickly and decisively to cyberattacks which have been on the rise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under current law, the Department of Justice can only charge conspiracy to commit cybercrimes through a general statute unrelated to the CFAA. Individuals charged under the general conspiracy statute face a maximum five-year penalty.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The legislation from Rounds and Gillibrand would allow the DOJ to issue charges under a technology-specific CFAA, elevating the penalties from a decade to life in prison, depending on the severity of the crime.<\/p>\n<p>Rounds, the first senator to serve as chairman of the Senate Armed Services\u2019 cybersecurity subcommittee, is one of a <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/south-dakota-cybersecurity-leadership-2025\/\">trio of cyber-focused South Dakota Republicans<\/a> with expanding profiles this Congress, along with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.<\/p>\n<p>Rounds, who also introduced a bill this week to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rounds.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/cyber_pivott_act.pdf\">create a scholarship program for cybersecurity students<\/a> at two-year technical schools, has typically framed cyber as a national security issue, emphasizing the threats posed to the United States by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/video\/2022\/03\/23\/cmu-sen-mike-rounds-on-growing-cybersecurity-threats-from-russia-against-u-s.html\">Russia<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/weekly-cybersecurity\/2024\/11\/25\/china-is-everywhere-all-at-once-00191436\">China<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"4.3404634581105\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"15\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/bipartisan-senate-bill-would-strengthen-cybercrime-penalties-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Matt Bracken\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Matt Bracken<\/h4>\n<p> Matt Bracken is the managing editor of FedScoop and CyberScoop, overseeing coverage of federal government technology policy and cybersecurity. Before joining Scoop News Group in 2023, Matt was a senior editor at Morning Consult, leading data-driven coverage of tech, finance, health and energy. He previously worked in various editorial roles at The Baltimore Sun and the Arizona Daily Star. You can reach him at matt.bracken@scoopnewsgroup.com. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__container\">\n<h2 class=\"popular-stories__title\"> More Scoops <\/h2>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<section class=\"latest-podcasts\">\n<h2 class=\"latest-podcasts__title\"> Latest Podcasts\t<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"top-categories\">\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Government<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Technology<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/main> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--bottom \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"interstitial\" class=\"welcome__container\"> <button id=\"close-modal-1\" class=\"welcome__clickable_area\"><\/button> <\/p>\n<div class=\"welcome__ad_wrapper\">\n<p> <button id=\"close-modal-3\" class=\"welcome__continue-button\">Continue to CyberScoop<\/button> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>   <\/body> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cybercrime-computer-fraud-bill-senate\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bipartisan Senate bill would strengthen cybercrime penalties | CyberScoop Skip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3390,282,3695,3230,439],"tags":[3391,286,3696,3235,443],"class_list":["post-7282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computer-fraud-and-abuse-act-cfaa","category-cybercrime","category-kirsten-gillibrand","category-mike-rounds","category-policy","tag-computer-fraud-and-abuse-act-cfaa","tag-cybercrime","tag-kirsten-gillibrand","tag-mike-rounds","tag-policy"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","chromenews-featured":"","chromenews-large":"","chromenews-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"Cyber Scoop","author_link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/author\/cyberscoop\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/computer-fraud-and-abuse-act-cfaa\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/cybercrime\/\" rel=\"category tag\">cybercrime<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/kirsten-gillibrand\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Kirsten Gillibrand<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/mike-rounds\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Mike Rounds<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/policy\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Policy<\/a>","tag_info":"Policy","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7282\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":7282,"date":"2025-02-11T14:02:14","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T20:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=83465"},"modified":"2025-02-11T14:02:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T20:02:14","slug":"bipartisan-senate-bill-would-strengthen-cybercrime-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2025\/02\/11\/bipartisan-senate-bill-would-strengthen-cybercrime-penalties\/","title":{"rendered":"Bipartisan Senate bill would strengthen cybercrime penalties"},"content":{"rendered":"