Interpretation of the cyber-damage crime

The case involved the deliberate disruption of the electric supply provided by EDESUR S.A., through the manipulation of the computer system that controls the distribution of energy.

Both first instance and the Court of Appeals classified the conduct as the crime of hindering the normal operation of the public electricity service, as provided in article 194 of the Criminal Code.

EDESUR S.A., as complainant, appealed the legal classification, alleging the commission of an aggravated crime (article 183, second paragraph and article 184, subsection 6 of the Penal Code),  which imposes a higher penalty.

As a result, the Court of Cassation overturned the ruling of the Court of Appeals, endorsing the complainant’s position. To decide, the Court valued especially the fact that the defendant altered the normal operation of the computer system by creating new commands, the deletion of data and modification of access profiles. Therefore, it considered that the defendant perpetrated the crime of cyber-damage, aggravated by the fact that it interrupted a public service.

This case offers valuable insight for the interpretation of the scope of the cyber-damage crime. In this sense, it confirms that the classification does not require the collapse or disabling of the system, but rather that it is altered in its normal functions, through the introduction of modifications outside the original programming.