ITPEC FE Morning April 2019 Question 80

Keeping a found virus in order to run it later on another person's computer — possessing malware with intent to commit an offence is a crime under the Convention on Cybercrime.

The Convention on Cybercrime (Council of Europe, Budapest 2001) makes the misuse of devices an offence: producing, distributing or possessing a program designed for attacking computers, when done intentionally, without right and with intent that it be used to commit an offence. The same article states that making or holding such a program for authorised testing or protection of a system is not an offence. Option (c) has both the possession and the criminal purpose; who wrote the virus does not matter.

Answer (c)

Why not others:

• •(a) — creating a virus to develop and test antivirus software is for protecting systems, a purpose the Convention excludes from the offence
• •(b) — forwarding an infected e-mail without knowing it lacks intent, and the Convention punishes only intentional acts
• •(d) — handing a virus to an antivirus organisation while clearly stating that it is a virus serves protection, not an attack

Key rule: Under the Convention on Cybercrime, making, spreading or holding malware is criminal when done intentionally and for an attack; the purpose decides, not the mere act of handling the code.

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