Evaluating existing legislation on hacking in Malta : does it suffice?

Abstract

With the advancement of technology, new methods and strategies of hacking have been developed and will continue to develop. To this end, the principal aim of the dissertation has been the analysis of the current Maltese legislation in order to confirm or otherwise whether these laws appropriately penalize cybercriminals and also whether or not they adequately protects victims of cybercrime. In addition, the dissertation aimed to determine whether or not current Maltese legislation on hacking as enacted, ‘suffices’ by examining whether or not said laws have any legal shortcomings. Chapter one gives a brief overview of the history of Maltese cybercrime law on hacking in order to evaluate how it has evolved through the years and to understand the legislators’ thought process behind the various amendments to it that came into effect over the years. Chapter two, regarding the ‘Computer Misuse’ section found in the Maltese Criminal Code, (Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta), has been analysed in great detail. The other applicable laws which were analysed were the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention, the EU Directive on Attacks against Information Systems and the EU General Data Protection Regulation. As a result of this, the positive and negative aspects of cybercrime law on hacking were highlighted in chapter three with a view to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the current ‘cybercrime’ laws. Chapter four deals with suggestions that are put forward by the author with the main aim of improving the current legislative framework and providing for a more developed system of combatting cybercrime in Malta. The conclusion of the study focuses on whether the current cybercrime legislation is sufficient or not for today’s standards and suggestions for their improvement to cater for today’s ever-changing cybersecurity.