Ethical Issues in an Age of Information and Communication Technology Presentation

Introduction

• Ethics are concerned with placing value.
• They help determine whether an act is good or bad.
• These rules and are written into laws.
• The computing profession is no exception.
• It has guidelines on the conduct of its professionals (Pojman, 2012).

Ethics and computer crime

• Computer use was initially not regulated.
• This caused problems and guidelines had to be formulated (Barbara, 2011).
• With the freedom of the internet, new issues have emerged.
• Computer ethics seeks to address the menace.

Computer crimes

• Computer crimes are quite common today.
• This refers to any crime involving a network and a computer.
• The computer may be used in the crime or may be the target (Herman, 2004).
• Criminal exploitation of the internet is referred to as Net crime.

Cyber crime

• Cyber crime is a crime committed with the intent to harm an individuals reputation.
• It could be physical or mental harm, and directly or indirectly (MacKinnon, 2011).
• The crime is propagated by modern telecommunication such as the internet.

Malware

• Malware refers to computer virus or a Trojan.
• Viruses get into the computer without the user’s conscience (Michael, 2011).
• They are developed as normal programs.
• Viruses harm data stored in the computer by corrupting it.

Identity theft

• Identity theft involves a criminal getting and targets personal information and using it as their own.
• It can involve the hacker getting personal bank details (Michael, 2011).
• The hackers then uses the information for their own benefit.

Cyber stalking

• It means to use the internet to stalk someone.
• Many individuals leave personal information on the internet (Michael, 2011).
• This increases the vulnerability to cyber stalking.
• Cyber stalking is essentially a form of harassment.

Child pornography

• It is unbelievable, but the internet is used to exploit children (MacKinnon, 2011).
• Individuals make a lot of money from this crime.
• This presents an issue of critical concern.
• This is due to the nature of the crime and its implications in society.

Spam

• Spam refers to the numerous annoying emails.
• The annoying messages are illegal in many countries.
• A malware protected computer is used to prevent the spread of a spam.
• There are certain guides that were formulated to minimize computer crimes (White & White, 2006).

Computer Ethics

• There are various guides that emanated from the computer ethics institute.
• It is unethical to write a program with wrong motives.
• A program should be formulated with the sole intent not to harm users.
• It is wrong to access and destroy other peoples files.
• Generating and spreading computer viruses is unethical.
• Reading other peoples information is unethical.
• This is because it contravenes to their privacy.
• Using the computer to steal is illegal.
• This is computer fraud and there are laws against it.
• Using the computer to spread lies is unethical.
• Software books are guarded by intellectual property rights.
• It is thus unethical to use a product not that is not legally acquired.
• Hacking into unauthorized system is unethical.
• It is not legal to bypass authorization measures.
• Intellectual property piracy is prohibited.
• Coping another person’s work without authorization is unethical
• It is prohibitive to write a program that is harmful to society (Stephen, Maeve & Donald, 2003).
• Computer will be used to depict respect and consideration.
• The computer may be used in the crime or may be the target (Herman, 2004).

Conclusion

• Vulnerability to computer crime is evident.
• This is either through the internet or the computer network.
• It is important to be ethical to avoid crimes.
• Computer protection measures should also be applied to reduce computer crime.

References

Barbara, M. (2011) Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues, 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Herman, T.(2004). Ethics & Technology: Ethical Issues in an Age of Information and Communication Technology. Hoboken, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

MacKinnon, B. (2011). Ethics: Theory and contemporary issues. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

Michael, J. (2011). Ethics for the Information Age, 4th ed. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Pojman, L. P. (2012). Ethics: Discovering right and wrong. Boston, MA: Wadsworth.

Stephen, H. Maeve, C., & Donald, J. (2003). Management Information Systems: For the Information Age, 4th ed. New York, McGraw-Hill.

White, J.E., & White, J.E. (2006). Contemporary moral problems. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub.