John Leyden provides some historical context to the UK’s computer crime law:
This week marks the 30th anniversary of arrests in the infamous Prestel hack case. It led to arrests, breached the Royal Family’s security and helped give birth to the UK’s first computer crime law.
What began as a hack against the Prestel Viewdata system – which opened up access to Prince Philip’s mailbox – later led to the arrest of two tech enthusiast journalists and a prosecution, culminating in the UK’s first computer crime law.
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