1. What is the difference between a criminal case and a civil cyberlaw case?
A criminal case constitutes a situation where a person or an organization is being charged with as an action that goes against the state, the country, or the society, and the prosecution is conducted by the government (i.e. cyberterrorism). The victim does not have to file a case for it to initiate proceedings.
In a civil cyberlaw case, two or more sides using a civil procedure to resolve a dispute. The offending side files the case, and if it wins, it can receive a monetary remedy, have the losing side fulfill its responsibilities, or stop an offending action (The Differences between a Criminal Case and a Civil Case, 2016).
2. Which type of case has a stricter burden of proof, civil or criminal? Why?
Criminal Case has a stricter burden of proof because it implies much more serious consequences if the defendant is found guilty, and usually require the prosecution to prove the defendant’s guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt”, in accordance to the Fourteenth Amendment (U.S. Const. amend. XIV, par.1).
3. Why are constitutional cyberlaw cases critical to follow for business managers and IT professionals?
Due to the rapid advancement of technology, new rules and regulations are constantly being developed to better regulate the Internet and the activities online. For example, the area of IP and Copyright is in a state of flux due to vaguely defined regulations of Fair Use. This puts the burden of responsibility on the business managers and IT professionals to be able to protect their business from becoming the victims or perpetrators in criminal or civil law cases.
4. What is an expert witness?
Expert witnesses are witnesses who are permitted to present their opinion or analysis in court, based on Rule 703 of the Federal Rules of Evidence (Rule 703. Bases of an Expert, 2016).
5. What qualifies a person to be an expert witness?
An expert witness needs to possess a level of education, experience, training, or skill significantly higher than that of an average person, in the area related to the court proceedings. To be accepted in court, their analysis and observations need to be scientifically sound (Sapir, 2007).
6. Why should business managers and IT professionals study and understand current and notable cases in cyberlaw?
Evaluation of Cyber Cases allows managers and IT professionals to detect vulnerabilities in their systems, or install preventive measures against such. Examples of actions that can be drawn from cyberlaw cases are the need for diverse passwords on company systems, limited access to the systems, with staff not having immediate access to areas outside of their responsibility, the importance of background checks, etc.
7. Research a current cyberlaw case in the news. What are the issues of the case? Who are the parties? Why is the case important to business managers and cybersecurity professionals?
In a recent cyberlaw case, a US agricultural company Monsanto Co. has filed a lawsuit against its former employee Mr. Chen. It has accused Mr. Chen, who is a former computer programmer, of allegedly stealing 52 sensitive company-owned files using his credentials, prior to agreeing to join a Chinese Seed company.
Mr. Chen gave rise to suspicion after sophisticated illegal software was found on one of his old computers, which could be used to steal data. Additionally, the date of his final working day in the office was in close proximity to the day of the security breach. Mr. Chen had also been in contact with Mo Hailong, a Chinese citizen charged and found guilty of attempting to steal Monsato products (Jones, 2016). This case shows how corporate espionage can be achieved through the use of cyber technologies. In addition, if Mr. Chen is found guilty, it will showcase the importance of extensive background checks of the employee, and will provide grounds for mandatory regular checks of company-owned computers for the presence of unauthorized software.
References
Jones, D. (2016). Monsanto Sues Former Employee For Stealing Data. Web.
Rule 703. Bases of an Expert. (2016). Web.
Sapir, G. (2007). Qualifying the Expert Witness: A Practical Voir Dire. Forensic. Web.
The Differences between a Criminal Case and a Civil Case. (2016). Findlaw. Web.
U.S. Const. amend. XIV.