Mississippi Computer Crimes Laws

• Computer Fraud – accessing any computer, system, or network (including through the Internet, such as cloud-based networking) with the intent to defraud, obtain money, property, or services fraudulently, or to insert or attach a set of instructions in the computer, program, system, or network that’s intended to alter, damage, or destroy property or use services of that computer or network
• Offenses Against Computer Users – Intentionally denying an authorized user, without his or her consent, full and effective use of a computer, system, network, or computer service OR disclosing to another, without the user’s consent, any passwords used to access a computer or system
• Offenses Against Computer Equipment – Intentionally modifying or destroying, without consent, computer equipment or supplies used or intended to be used in a computer, system, or network
• Offenses Against Intellectual Property – Intentionally destroying, modifying, or inserting intellectual property, without consent, OR disclosing, using, copying, taking, or accessing without consent intellectual property

If another crime was committed in the process, such as theft or burglary, you can also be charged with that crime.

A civil penalty of double the reasonable costs of the Attorney General’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, and police departments involved in investigating the computer crime will be assessed and the money will be divided among the agencies that worked on the case.

• If less than $1,000 in damage, a fine of not more than $1,000 and no more than 6 months in jail, if community-based treatment can’t be safely accomplished, or 1 year probation
  • After 3 or more convictions of at least $500 damage, a prison term of up to 3 years and a fine up to $2,000 can be imposed
• For $1,000 to $5,000 of damage, a fine of up to $10,000 and imprisonment of up to 5 years is the penalty
• For damage of $5,000 to $25,000, the punishment is a fine of up to $10,000 and imprisonment for up to 10 years
• For $25,000 or more in damage, the fine is not more than $10,000 and at most 20 years in prison

• Use e-mail or other electronic communications to threaten physical harm to a person or his or her relatives, harm to the victim’s property, or to blackmail them
• Send repeated communications to threaten or harass
• Make false statements about the death, injury, or illness of a person’s family member to terrify or harass the victim
• Permit a computer, phone, or other device under one’s control be used for this purpose