Comparative legislation reveals growing criminal rigor in Brazil and the U.S. against the convergence of stalking and cyber sabotage

Comparative legislation reveals growing criminal rigor in Brazil and the U.S. against the convergence of stalking and cyber sabotage

Public safety and digital law experts are drawing attention to the legal framework applied to the combination of obsessive stalking and network connection sabotage, a phenomenon challenging law enforcement authorities internationally. The rise of criminal behavior blending psychological harassment with cyber attacks and digital infrastructure manipulation finds specific normative responses in both Brazilian and U.S. legislation.

In Brazil, the legal system addresses repeated harassment through Article 147-A of the Penal Code (introduced by Law 14.132/2021), which criminalizes stalking with prison sentences of up to two years, enhanced by aggravating factors in cases of gender violence or multiple perpetrators. When stalking involves device invasion or system interruption, the conduct is also combined with the provisions of the Carolina Dieckmann Law (Art. 154-A of the PC) and crimes related to damage or the disruption of telematic services (Art. 266 of the PC).

In the United States, enforcement is structured across both state and federal statutes. The Interstate Stalking Punishment and Prevention Act (18 U.S.C. § 2261A) severely punishes the use of electronic means and interstate networks to intimidate or cause severe emotional distress. On the technological front, the landmark Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA, 18 U.S.C. § 1030) criminalizes unauthorized access for planting malicious software and destabilizing connections.

The convergence of these standards underscores the need for police and forensic units to act in an integrated manner, treating network incidents and systemic outages not merely as technical glitches, but as material evidence of continuous crimes of stalking and invasion of privacy.