The White House is pushing for stiffer sentences for hackers, including a 20-year jail sentence.
At present, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act has a maximum of 10-year jail sentences for first-time offenders, if it is found that a government computer has been breached and if national security is at stake.
For online theft, the punishment is a maximum of five years. It is one year for stealing a password of a financial institution or accessing a government computer.
Under the new proposal, the Obama administration is pressing Congress to double the maximum sentences, reports the Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government has passed a new law under to punish creators of computer viruses. Under the new law, people who create or distribute a computer virus could be jailed for up to three years or pay fines up to 500,000 yen (6,200 dollars). The law also covers those who deliberately store a computer virus, says a report by AFP.
The report said that the new law also gives the power to the police to seize email communication logs of suspects.
