CADRA is intended to be a national model for legislation providing a new civil remedy (and recovery of reasonable attorneys’ fees) to business owners who suffer harm or loss as a result of unauthorized access to their business data or computer systems. To take advantage of CADRA’s protections, businesses must protect their computers by installing certain “technological access barriers,” or TABs, defined in CADRA.
An individual violates CADRA when he or she “knowingly and with intent to cause harm or loss”: (1) obtains information from a TAB-protected computer without authorization and as a result causes harm or loss; (2) causes the transmission of a program, code, or command to a TAB-protected computer and as a result causes harm or loss; or (3) traffics in any TAB through which access to a protected computer might be gained without authorization.
Directors, officers, employees, and others are considered authorized users only when they have express permission of the business owner to access TAB-protected computers. This authorization ends when the relationship between the business and the individual ends – whether by termination of employment or by other means.
A business owner bringing suit under CADRA may recover money damages including: lost profits, economic damages, and the profits gained by the violator. Additionally, the owner is entitled to an injunction to prevent further violations and will recover the stolen information. Finally, the prevailing party in a CADRA action is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees.
A full description of the law is available here.
________________________
Legal News Alert is part of our ongoing commitment to providing up-to-the-minute information about pressing concerns or industry issues affecting our clients and our colleagues. If you have any questions about this update or would like to discuss this topic further, please contact your Foley attorney or the following:
Michael Gay
Chair, Litigation Department
Orlando, Florida
407.244.3253
[email protected]
Kevin A. Reck
Partner
Orlando, Florida
407.244.3269
[email protected]
Adam C. Losey
Senior Counsel
Orlando, Florida
407.244.7136
[email protected]
