Existing law establishes various crimes relating to computer services and systems, including, among others, knowingly and without permission accessing or causing to be accessed any computer, computer system, or computer network. Existing law makes a person who, with the intent to extort property or other consideration from another, introduces ransomware, as defined, into a computer, computer system, or computer network punishable in the same manner as if that property or other consideration were actually obtained by means of the threat. Existing law requires that prosecution for a felony violation of these crimes be commenced within 3 years after the commission of the offense.

This bill would instead require the prosecution for a felony violation of those computer-related crimes to be commenced within 3 years after discovery of the commission of the offense, and would require the filing of a criminal complaint within 9 years of the commission of the offense. The bill would apply that 3 year statute of limitations to crimes that are committed on or after January 1, 2021, and to crimes for which the statute of limitations that was in effect prior to January 1, 2021, has not run as of January 1, 2021.