Oops! Don't violate the law!
My previous advise for how cohorts could support the Company need to consider:
“Cyberthreats” can simply mean threatening communications that are conveyed via the Internet,
cellphone, or other digital means. The communication in interstate commerce of threats to harm a personor property, to kidnap a person, or to damage a person’s reputation, is a violation of federal law pursuantto 18 U.S.C. § 875. Because the Internet is a means of interstate commerce, threats sent online may befederally prosecuted. See 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) (2015). It is axiomatic that “cyberthreats” are “threatening”to the victim, as the perpetrator generally intends the victim to feel threatened. For instance, the victim in a recent Supreme Court case addressing section 875 stated, “I felt like I was being stalked. I feltextremely afraid for mine and my children’s and my families’ lives.” Elonis v. United States, 135 S. Ct.
2001, 2007 (2015). (For a detailed discussion of this case, see Gretchen Shappert, Elonis v. United States:
Consequences for 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) and the Communication of Threats in Interstate Commerce,
UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS’ BULLETIN (May 2016)).
The term “cyberthreats” can also refer to malicious attempts to damage or disrupt a computer network
or system. For instance, after President Obama referred to cyberthreats in the February 2013 State of the
Union Address, the White House clarified that “[c]yberthreats cover a wide range of malicious activity
that can occur through cyberspace. Such threats include Web site defacement, espionage, theft of
intellectual property, denial of service attacks, and destructive malware." Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman
for the White House National Security Council. This definition of cyberthreat is beyond the scope of this
article
