On November 21, the Supreme Court of Virginia entered a published order reversing a 14-3 en banc decision of the Court of Appeals of Virginia addressing the applicability of Virginia’s criminal laws regulating cybercrime. The decision in Commonwealth v. Wallace is the latest example of courts testing regulatory reach in the cybercrime arena.
The court provided needed clarity on whether the scope of Virginia’s computer fraud statute, contained in Virginia Code Section 18.2-152.3, extends to ATM use. The November decision is only the second instance in which Virginia’s high court has addressed the state’s computer fraud statute, first passed in 1984. The court summarily adopted the reasoning of Court of Appeals dissenting opinion in Wallace v. Commonwealth, 79 Va. App. 455, 476-84 (2024), without further comment, holding: 1) that the ATM at issue in the case constituted a “computer” under Virginia’s computer-crime regime, and 2) that depositing a forged check at an ATM at one’s bank can constitute computer fraud — that is, using the device “without authority” to commit an enumerated crime. Three justices dissented...
