Criminal liability for the abuse of computer viruses: Status and prospects

Given the increasing prevalence of the almost daily use of computer programs, data, or systems in various spheres of human, social, and economic life, it is necessary to ensure, and subsequently improve, their effective, lawful, and high-quality protection-both technical and legal. In this way, overall computer security is raised to a qualitatively higher level. It is particularly endangered by various unlawful activities involving the misuse of computer programs, data, or systems. A particularly dangerous form of such computer misuse appears in the creation, insertion, distribution, or dissemination of different types of computer viruses. These are malicious computer programs designed to cause damage to a computer, network, or data, and are introduced into a system with the intention of compromising the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of computer data, or with the aim of disrupting the functioning of a computer or computer network in other ways. The criminal legislation of Serbia, as well as several comparative legal systems, prescribes specific incriminations for the creation or dissemination of computer viruses. This paper addresses their elements, characteristics, forms of manifestation, and substantive content.