Law / United States / Hawaii
Hawaii Computer Crime Law, Part IX (unauthorized computer access, computer fraud, computer damage)
Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 708-890 to 708-895.7
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 7 September 2026.
What it requires
- Accessing a computer, computer system, or computer network connected to Hawaii without the permission of its owner or rightful user, or in excess of the permission granted, is unauthorized access under this statute; ordinary automated retrieval of a public, unauthenticated page has not been tested against this definition by a Hawaii court.
- Unauthorized access aggravated by commercial or financial gain, by furthering another crime, by obtaining information worth more than $20,000, or by obtaining information a statute or court rule protects, is unauthorized computer access in the first degree, a class A felony; unaggravated unauthorized access that obtains information is the second degree (class B felony), and unaggravated access alone is the third degree (class C felony).
- Knowingly accessing a computer with intent to commit theft is computer fraud, graded by the degree of theft intended, up to a class A felony.
- Knowingly or intentionally causing unauthorized damage to a computer, computer system, or computer network is computer damage, graded up to a class A felony where the computer manages or controls critical infrastructure.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Unauthorized computer access, computer fraud, and computer damage are each graded first degree (class A felony, up to 20 years imprisonment and a fine up to $50,000 under Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 706-659, 706-640), second degree (class B felony, up to 10 years and a $25,000 fine under §§ 706-660, 706-640), or third degree (class C felony, up to 5 years and a $10,000 fine under §§ 706-660, 706-640), depending on the offense's aggravating facts stated in each section.
Penalty structure
Maximum fine varies by felony class: class A (first-degree unauthorized computer access, computer fraud, or computer damage) up to $50,000 and up to 20 years imprisonment; class B (second degree) up to $25,000 and up to 10 years; class C (third degree) up to $10,000 and up to 5 years, under Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 706-640(1), 706-659, 706-660.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 7 September 2026
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 50,000
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
A person commits unauthorized computer access in the first, second, or third degree by knowingly accessing a computer, computer system, or computer network without authorization, with the first degree requiring an aggravating fact (commercial or private financial gain, furtherance of another crime, information worth more than $20,000, or information a statute or court rule protects from disclosure) and each lower degree dropping that requirement; the same Part separately grades computer fraud (access with intent to commit theft, sections 708-891 to 708-891.6) and computer damage (sections 708-892 to 708-892.6) into parallel first-through-third-degree tiers.
Section 708-890 defines "without authorization" as without the permission of, or in excess of the permission granted by, the computer's owner, lessor, or rightful user, the same permission-based test the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act uses. Section 708-893 separately makes using a computer to further certain listed offenses, including harassment, stalking, and violation of privacy, an offense one class or grade higher than the underlying crime.
When LexLint raises it
crawls_web