Section 16 Cybercrimes Act
Section 16 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015 is about Unauthorised modification of computer systems, network data and system interference. It is under Part III (Offences and Penalties) of the Act.
(1) A Person who, with intent and without lawful authority, directly or indirectly modifies or causes modification of any data held in any computer system or network, commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not more than 3 years or to a fine of not more than N7,000,000.00 or to both.
(2) For the purpose of this section, a modification of any data held in any computer system or network includes modifications that take place whereby the operation of any function of the Computer System or Network concerned, or any-
(a) program or data held in it is altered or erased;
(b) program or data is added to or removed from any program or data held in it;
(c) program or data is suppressed to prevent or terminate the availability of the data or function to its authorized users; or
(d) act occurs which impairs the normal operation of any computer, computer system or network concerned.
(3) A Person who, without lawful authority, intentionally does an act which causes directly or indirectly the serious hindering of the functioning of a computer system by inputting, transmitting, damaging, deleting, deteriorating, altering or suppressing computer data or any other form of interference with the computer system, which prevents the computer system or any part thereof, from functioning in accordance with its intended purpose, commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not more than 2 years or to a fine of not more than N5,000,000.00 or to both.
