Criminal Code, Damage and Unauthorized Entry into a Computer System
Criminal Code, OG No. 37/1996, art. 251
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not delete, alter, damage or conceal computer data, a program, or a computer system without authorization, or otherwise disable or hinder the use of a computer system, data, program or computer communication.
- Do not enter another's computer or system without authorization with intent to exploit its data or programs for unlawful gain or to cause damage, or to transmit data reached without authorization.
- Do not intercept, by technical means, a non-public transmission of computer data to, from, or within a computer system.
- A higher penalty applies where the system belongs to a state body, a public enterprise or a public institution, is used in international communications, or the act is committed by an organized group.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
A fine or imprisonment of up to three years for the basic offense (art. 251(1)-(3)); one to five years where committed against a protected or public system or by an organized group (art. 251(4)); six months to five years, or one to ten years for the interception offense specifically, where a greater unlawful gain or damage resulted (art. 251(5)-(6)); a fine or up to one year for unauthorized manufacture, acquisition, sale, possession or distribution of a device, password, access code or program suited to commit the offense (art. 251(7)); attempt of paragraphs (1) and (2) is itself punishable (art. 251(8)); a legal person is punished with a fine (art. 251(9)).
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Article 251(1) punishes a person who, without authorization, deletes, alters, damages, conceals or otherwise renders unusable computer data, a program, or a device for maintaining an information system, or disables or hinders the use of a computer system, data, program or computer communication, with a fine or imprisonment of up to three years.
Paragraph (2) applies the same penalty to unauthorized entry into another's computer or system with intent to exploit its data or programs for unlawful gain or to cause damage, or to transmit data reached without authorization. Paragraph (3) separately punishes unauthorized interception, by technical means, of a non-public transmission of computer data to, from or within a computer system.
Paragraph (4) raises the penalty to one to five years' imprisonment where the act targets a system protected by special security measures, one used by a state body, public enterprise or public institution, or in international communications, or is committed by a member of an organized group; paragraphs (5) and (6) raise it further where the act produced a greater unlawful gain or damage.
Paragraph (7) separately punishes the unauthorized manufacture, acquisition, sale, possession or distribution of a device, password, access code or program suited for committing the offense, and paragraph (9) extends liability to a legal person, punishable by a fine. The consolidated text lists the many Official Gazette issues that have amended the Criminal Code as a whole without attributing this specific article to one of them, so no commencement date for this provision is confirmed here.
When LexLint raises it
crawls_webtrains_models