Statwatch

Plans to criminalise denial of service attacks in England and Wales have been put on hold for another six months, the Home Office has confirmed. Changes to the Computer Misuse Act—due this spring—will not now be introduced until October. The new law will make clear that denial of service attacks—where numerous automated messages are sent which can choke a network or disable a website—are illegal. The changes will also make it an offence to distribute tools “likely” to be used for hacking computer networks. Anyone found guilty of launching a denial of service attack faces up to 10 years jail. The maximum sentence e for unauthorised access to computer networks will also rise from six months to two years.