computer crime

American  

noun

1. unauthorized use of a computer for personal gain, as in the illegal transfer of funds or to alter the data or property of others.

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Other Word Forms

• computer criminal noun

Etymology

Origin of computer crime

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Police arrested the pair on charges of violating the country's computer crime law last month after raiding their homes.

From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026

Thai authorities have also increasingly used the country's computer crime laws to prosecute those who've posted critical comments on social media.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2023

Espinosa denied that he was responsible for the video and says he was the victim of "computer crime."

From Reuters • Jun. 16, 2022

That may be an overreach, said Orin Kerr, a University of California, Berkeley professor who focuses on computer crime law.

From Washington Post • Nov. 23, 2021

The Hacker Crackdown of 1990 was larger, better organized, more deliberate, and more resolute than any previous effort in the brave new world of computer crime.

From The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier by Sterling, Bruce