Typically associated with hackers, computer trespassing is defined as accessing, altering, deleting, damaging, destroying, or disrupting any computer, computer system, computer network, computer program, or data intentionally and without authorization.
Computer trespassing is not the way it sounds in the movies. It does not need to be done in the middle of the night by masked hackers, and it doesn’t always involve a bank heist or some other dramatic scheme. Instead, it can be as simple as a disgruntled employee (or former employee) entering a company’s servers and deleting important files. It may seem like a prank or not a big deal, but it is a federal crime.
Related: What Is a Federal Cybercrime?