Electronic theft is not specifically covered by the Criminal Code ; however, depending on how the electronic theft is carried out and what is stolen, it may be considered an indictable offence under one of the many prohibitions against fraudulent transactions found in the Criminal Code. For example, any deceit, falsehood, or fraud by a current or former employee in order to knowingly obtain a trade secret, or communicate or make available a trade secret, is prohibited under Section 1 of the Criminal Code.
And, similarly, it is an offence under Section In addition to the foregoing, Section of the Criminal Code deals with theft generally.
Many of the prohibitions in Section against theft would cover electronic theft as well. This interpretation has since been applied to data and images, which also cannot be the subject of theft under Section , although they can be the subject of other criminal offences see, e. Randy Taylor Professional Corp. It is also a criminal offence to circumvent technological protection measures, or manufacture, import, distribute, offer for sale or rental, or provide technology, devices, or components for the purposes of circumventing technological protection measures under Section Knowingly circumventing technological protection measures for commercial purposes is a criminal offence under Section 42 3.
H-5, it is an offence to collect, gain, or attempt to gain access to personal health information in contravention of the Act e. Unsolicited penetration testing i. Unsolicited penetration testing may be considered an offence under Section Under Section Unsolicited penetration testing may also be considered mischief under Section 1.
Any other activity that adversely affects or threatens the security, confidentiality, integrity or availability of any IT system, infrastructure, communications network, device or data.
Moreover, under Section Libman , [] 2 SCR Because cybercrime takes place online, the location of the server or computer is not always indicative of the location of the crime; therefore, the aforementioned offences may have extraterritorial application depending on the specific circumstances surrounding the relevant offence i.
Violations under CASL similarly have the potential for extraterritorial application. Section 12 of CASL applies to all CEMs accessed in Canada, including those sent from another country, and Section 8 prohibits the installation of computer programs without the express consent of the owner or authorised user of a computer system in Canada; this prohibition applies so long as the computer system is located in Canada.
For criminal offences in Canada, there are no specific factors that would mitigate a penalty. Sentencing for criminal offences is assessed case by case, and Sections — Some of the more relevant sentencing guidelines set out in the Criminal Code are outlined below. There are also exceptions established under the Copyright Act that allow for circumvention of technological protection measures under certain circumstances. For example, Section 42 3. Similarly, under Section Section 6 of CASL also provides for exceptions to the prohibition on unsolicited CEMs, including but not limited to messages that are sent by or on behalf of an individual to another individual with whom they have a personal or family relationship, or if the recipient of the communication has given express consent.
The Criminal Code prohibits the unauthorised use of a computer Section Section 19 of the Security Information Act and Section 1 of the Criminal Code also prohibit fraudulently obtaining or communicating a trade secret. Sections 41 and 42 of the Copyright Act provide for civil and criminal remedies related to technological protection measures and rights management information.
There are various privacy statutes in Canada that regulate the way in which PI can be collected, used or disclosed:. The Telecommunications Act S. Many departments and agencies across the Canadian government play a role with respect to cybersecurity in Canada for critical infrastructure and operators of essential services.
If so, please describe what measures are required to be taken. For example, the PIPEDA requires organisations to protect PI by implementing security safeguards to protect against loss or theft thereof, as well as unauthorised access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. The nature of the safeguards will vary depending on the sensitivity of the information that has been collected, the amount, distribution and format of the information, and the method of storage.
The methods of protection may include technological measures like using passwords and encryption. Financial regulators in Canada also require or expect certain organisations to monitor, detect, prevent, or mitigate incidents, as detailed below:. In addition to the foregoing, the Telecommunications Act mandates telecommunications service providers to protect the privacy of their users through the provision of various consumer safeguards.
If so, please provide details of: a the circumstance in which this reporting obligation is triggered; b the regulatory or other authority to which the information is required to be reported; c the nature and scope of information that is required to be reported; and d whether any defences or exemptions exist by which the organisation might prevent publication of that information. The PIPEDA also requires organisations to keep records of any incident involving loss of unauthorised access to or unauthorised disclosure of PI due to a breach of or failure to establish the security safeguards required by the PIPEDA , and prescribes the minimum content for reports to the OPC, including but not limited to:.
Similar breach reporting and notification requirements are found under other data protection statutes, including private-sector legislation in Alberta, public-sector legislation in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, and legislation applicable to personal health information custodians in Ontario and Alberta.
These incident reporting obligations generally pertain to any material systems issues, cybersecurity or technology risks and incidents, security breaches, breaches of client confidentiality or system intrusion. If so, please provide details of: a the circumstance in which this reporting obligation is triggered; and b the nature and scope of information that is required to be reported.
Notification of data subjects might also be required or appropriate under provincial privacy laws. For example, provincial health privacy laws in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador also have reporting requirements relating to the healthcare industry. In particular, organisations subject to the PIPEDA are required to notify affected individuals about breaches of security safeguards involving PI that pose a real risk of significant harm to those individuals as soon as feasible.
The notification must include enough information to allow the individual to understand the significance of the breach to them and to allow them to take steps, if any are possible, to reduce the risk of harm that could result from the breach.
Each provincial regulator is responsible for enforcing their provincial privacy statutes. See also the financial industry-specific regulators described in question 2. The OPC has the power to investigate complaints, audit and make non-binding recommendations in response to privacy violations.
Some of the provincial data protection statutes e. The proposed Digital Charter Implementation Act, — or any revised version thereof, if passed — may give the OPC new enforcement powers as well, including the ability to make binding orders and have the power to recommend fines to the new Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal, established by the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act not yet passed. This new privacy-focused tribunal would hear appeals from OPC orders and make decisions on whether to issue fines against organisations.
Penalties for criminal offences and non-compliance with CASL are described under question 1. Beacons i. The metadata collected from such devices could include PI, the use of which may be considered surveillance or profiling. It is possible that certain exceptions under Canadian privacy laws may apply to the use of beacons i. When people asked how he could afford these things, his reply was that he was providing online services.
This article is not about Baratov. He is currently in jail awaiting his bail hearing in April and plans to fight his extradition to the US where he would face charges of conspiring to commit computer fraud and abuse, conspiring to commit access device fraud, conspiring to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
It should be said right off the bat that not all hacking is illegal. One of the definitions of hacking is writing computer programs for fun, which is not illegal if the programs are harmless.
The other definition of hacking is the one most people are most familiar with, which is the act of getting into a computer illegally. The punishments are the same as for any other kind of mischief crime. Like many crimes, hacking is often done with intent to commit other crimes like fraud, theft, and unauthorized uses of credit card data. A person guilty of hacking could therefore also be found guilty of additional crimes, some of which — like fraud — carry stiffer penalties than mischief.
Additionally, "the degree of planning involved in carrying out the offence and the duration and complexity of the offence" are also considerations Section Certain criminal offences require proof of criminal intent e.
Also, some offences may not apply where the action was undertaken with consent. For a recent discussion of intent as it related to Section 1. The penalties for some offences depend upon the financial repercussions of the offence.
For example, Section 1 of the Code see Section 1. There are also other aggravating factors, such as the number of victims or the complexity of the fraud, that may increase the severity of the punishment see Section To view the full article, please click here. The foregoing provides only an overview and does not constitute legal advice. Readers are cautioned against making any decisions based on this material alone.
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Learn More Accept. Criminal Law. Canada: Cybersecurity Canada Wasser and Kristen Pennington. Your LinkedIn Connections with the authors. To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq. If so, please provide details of the offence, the maximum penalties available, and any examples of prosecutions in your jurisdiction: Hacking i. Kalonji , the accused was found guilty of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with an account take-over scheme involving the hacking of bank accounts.
Section of the Code, particularly when the hacking is related to "smurfing" e. Geller , an accused was charged with mischief to data after obtaining credit card numbers and other information through hacking, then accessing the internet using fake identification. This article was first published in the ICLG — Cybersecurity The foregoing provides only an overview and does not constitute legal advice.
Lyndsay A. Kristen Pennington. On November 4, , Ontario's Fall Economic Statement announced an intention to address tax evasion When Does Negligence Become Criminal?
The Criminal Code of Canada contains several negligence based criminal offences, including dangerous driving as well as failure to provide the necessaries of life. The RCMP recently announced a rising trend of companies self-reporting potential acts of bribery and corruption.
Karigar appealed on the grounds that Justice Hackland had made several errors in his determination. The Criminal Code contains a number of offences that are directed at what have traditionally been viewed as "commercial" crimes.
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