...Computer ethics Computer ethics is a branch of practical philosophy which deals with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct. The term "computer ethics" was first coined by Walter Maner in the mid-1970s, but only since the 1990s has it started being integrated into professional development programs in academic settings. The conceptual foundations of computer ethics are investigated by information ethics, a branch of philosophical ethics established by Luciano Floridi. Computer ethics is a very important topic in computer applications. The importance of computer ethics increased through the 1990s. With the growth of the Internet, privacy issues as well as concerns regarding computing technologies such as spyware and web browser cookies have called into question ethical behavior in technology. Identifying issues Identifying ethical issues as they arise, as well as defining how to deal with them, has traditionally been problematic in computer ethics. Some have argued against the idea of computer ethics as a whole. However, Collins and Miller proposed a method of identifying issues in computer ethics in their Paramedic Ethics model. The model is a data-centered view of judging ethical issues, involving the gathering, analysis, negotiation, and judging of data about the issue. In solving problems relating to ethical issues, Davis proposed a unique problem-solving method. In Davis's model, the ethical problem is stated, facts...
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...02/25/2014 SP14 CIS-PHI 3270 ETRA SHVETS VARGAS BYRNE PAPER 1 [Document subtitle] Computer Ethics Every day that passes society is becoming more and more dependent on technology, to the point where a majority of people cannot live without gadgets, such a smart phones or tablets. Technology is constantly changing, especially in the past decade, has made the lives of many individuals much more convenient, however it can come with a consequence. The usage of technology has become a key essential in the business world. Computers and cellphones have many applications that are convenient for the users, such as storage for music, school assignments, pictures, games, and many more. Keeping all this information available instantly requires some sort of storage device of platform. Flash drives, hard drives, and cloud storage are some of the most well know storage alternatives that are used. Due to advances in technology the usage of hard drives and flash drives has diminished because of the growing development and improvement of the cloud storage system. The usage of storage systems has been rapidly growing and has been predicted to continue increase during the upcoming years. Although the innovation of new storage systems brings many conveniences to its users, it is exploring new fields of technology in which many unanswered ethical questions have surfaced in society. “One of the first milestones for cloud computing was the arrival of Salesforce.com in 1999, which pioneered...
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...Computer Ethics Jason Hall CIS 324 Professor Pride December 4, 2010 Abstract As advancements in technology become more widespread, so do the ethical issues that come with these advancements. Computer ethics boils down to a “what is right and what is wrong” mentality. While one person’s view on computer ethics may differ from another person’s view, one basic idea should always be kept in mind when making ethical decisions, “Do unto others as you would have done to you.” If everyone obeyed this “golden rule” we would not have nearly as many issues with computer ethics. To better understand some of the computer ethics issues surrounding us today, I will explore the ethical issues dealing with software and social networking sites that have plagued the cyber world in recent years. Software Issues Ethical use of software is overlooked by many. Purchasing software does not mean that one owns the software and can use it anyway they want. You do not own the software. The only thing purchased in this case is a license to use the software. Upon using the purchased software, the purchaser accepts the terms and conditions that apply. By accepting the terms of the copyrighted material, one is agreeing not to use the software for anything other then the intended use and not to make and distribute copies to others who have not paid for the license. The only exception for making copies of software is for backup purposes. This type of exception is...
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...People are increasingly sharing their lives online through social networking sites with little concern for who may be viewing their information. This has become an issue in current times and is up for debate based on the ethical issues associated with Social Media. People don’t realize joining a social network is like joining a community. As any community in real life, your business has a place in the community but should not invade one’s privacy. Social networking is one of the most popular methods apart from forum marketing that is available to Internet users today. Places like MySpace, Facebook, and twitter among others have gone from just social interaction spaces to a part time marketing program as well. With all this popularity, there are a few ethical issues that presents itself including cyber-bullying, stocking, destroyed relationships, and so on. A utilitarian perspective is looked to the expected outcomes or consequences of an act to determine whether or not that act is morally permissible. Being that social networking allows one to get connected with others and sometimes form meaningful relationships also includes some of the illegal and ethical activities like hacking and posting of threatening online messages that highlight possible harms of this service. For this reason, the social networks are now considered as a way of cyber-bullying and online-predation to attack the interest of a utilitarian. MySpace, FaceBook, and other sites have been the scene of cyber bullying...
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...Commandments of Computer Ethics 1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people. 2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work. 3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's computer files. 4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal. 5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness. 6. Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid. 7. Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization or proper compensation. 8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output. 9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or the system you are designing. 10. Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for your fellow humans. Exegesis * Commandment 1 Simply put: Do not use a computer in ways that may harm other people. Explanation: This commandment says that it is unethical to use a computer to harm another user. It is not limited to physical injury. It includes harming or corrupting other users' data or files. The commandment states that it is wrong to use a computer to steal someone's personal information. Manipulating or destroying files of other users is ethically wrong. It is unethical to write programs, which on execution lead to stealing, copying or gaining unauthorized access to other users' data. Being involved in practices like hacking, spamming, phishing or cyber bullying does not conform to computer ethics. * Commandment...
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...Computers and Ethics in the Workplace Executive Summary This paper discusses issues with ethics that have derived in the workplace as a result of the use of business computers. The definition of computer ethics is simple; they are a set of moral principles that intend to help with the regulation of the use of computers. Some common problems with computer ethics consist of privacy concerns, intellectual property rights, and the way computers have an effect on people. In other words, computer ethics refers to the ways people take ethical traditions and test, stretch, apply, negotiate and break in the realm of computer technology. As technology continues to evolve, there are a great deal of ethical issues and principles of behavior concerning privacy and accurateness for managerial leaders to deal with. In finding the issues of ethics that the Technology Age has brought to the workplace, organizations must be hands-on when it is time to highlight ethical use of technology by employees. Making sure that employees are knowledgeable on the proper policies the organization has on computer ethics. Promoting good computer ethics is a great way for companies to keep morale high and unnecessary issues from arising in the workplace. Introduction As technology like computers progresses, they will continue to contain a larger impact on people in today’s society. For that reason, computer ethics supports the how some debate on just how much influence computers need to have in human communication...
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...1. Thou shall not use a computer to harm other people. Example: A person should do something which could cause any type of harm to others like cyber bullying, publishing false information about a person, harassment, etc. 2. Thou shall not interfere with other people's computer work. Example: I believe this could mean two things - the first one being that one should not develop programs or systems which could cause damage to a persons computer and disable it from fully functioning, such as malicious viruses and spreading them. Secondly, this commandment could mean that a person should not modify a persons work and shouldn't snoop around in it. 3. Thou shall not snoop around in other people's computer files. Example: If a person is logged into a website and you happen to be using the computer, it would be polite to log out. Also, one should never browse through a persons email, data and/or files (pictures, documents, etc.) without exclusive permission from the other person whom it belongs to. 4. Thou shall not use a computer to steal. Example: Although unethical, it is also unlawful to steal in any way shape, form or fashion. This would include, computer-hacking with the intent of secretly collecting personal information or running scams in order to benefit while conning the victim. Piracy is also a form of stealing which should be avoid. 5. Thou shall not use a computer to bear false witness. Example: To “bear false witness” is to lie, so a person should...
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...technology is vastly taking over, we must ask ourselves; how do we ethically conduct ourselves with these new advancements in society? In order to do so we must understand what is meant by ethics. We then must define the risks that are presented by such technologies as the internet (the technology that will be discussed in this paper). According to http://www.dictionary.com an ethic and I quote, is “a complex of moral precepts held or rules of conduct followed by an individual”. In other words, ethics is the manner in which we conduct ourselves. There are proper ethics and there are unsuitable ethics for all types of situation and publically accessible events, such as the internet, it’s all about how we as a people decide to use said resources. The internet is made up of multiple waves of information that can be easily attained by the most infinitesimal of minds. This is why it is so important that we establish an ethical code for the web. With a code of internet ethics, we can maximize the resourceful information found on the web and minimize the duplication of accredited entries. Recognizing an individual for his or her work is of great importance, so much that www.acm.org emphasizes it. This website states that it is appropriate to “give proper credit for intellectual property” in its code of ethics. One can protect themselves when it comes to technologically entering information. “The internet allows communication with anyone at any time with the click of a button”. If you decide...
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...James Michael Hughes Ethics 13 December 2011 Ethics and Piracy “Ethics is everything … If you don’t have a strong moral standing, if you don’t have an ethical foundation, you just crumble” (Shays). Computer Information Systems is a job category that is projected to be growing through the next ten years according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Computer technology gives an IT (Information Technology) Professional access to computer software and other sensitive information and ethics could determine how an individual may deal with these items on a day to day basis. Should businesses and individual be allowed to pirate software? Pirating continues to be a topic of concern for the future of technology. According to dictionary.com ethics is “that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions” (Dictionary.com). “The more specific term “computer ethics” has been used to refer to applications by professional philosophers of traditional Western theories like utilitarianism, Kantianism, or virtue ethics, to ethical cases that significantly involve computers and computer networks. “Computer ethics” also has been used to refer to a kind of professional ethics in which computer professionals apply codes of ethics and standards of good practice within their profession” (Bynum). Pirating computer software is a major...
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...Technology; friend or foe? There was certainly a time that the use of computer generated technology would have been a welcome relief to most crime scene investigators. The value of accuracy, eliminating most human error had value beyond words. Enter: technology that is as much a friend as it is a criminal. Technology and the brilliance it is made up of is only as good as the person utilizing it. On the flip side, it can also be as bad; incredibly harmful at best. When a crime has been committed, in this day in age, a computer is often the accomplice. That being said, the sooner the evidence within the computer accomplice is collected by the attending computer forensics specialists, the more likely the data that has been accessed, even if deleted, is remaining evidence on the computer; whether only in part or true to form detail. The longer the forensic team takes to collect this invaluable data, the more likely it is that the computer will overwrite key pieces of evidence, which would ultimately result in the prosecution or release of a potential criminal mind. Even partial data is extracted from the hard drive of the accomplice computer; it can still be very much useful in a prosecution, as partial data is also admissible in court today (Krehel, 2011). Securing the hard drive in the exact manner in which the computer has been found is absolutely vital to any forensic expert hoping to do their job with attention to detail and accuracy. This can be done by duplicating or...
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...How Ethics Relate To Computer Crimes Herman T. Everidge III Legal and Ethical Issues in Computing CIS 4253, 847 James R. Moore, Jr. September 29, 2012 Computer Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses and Malware Malware refers to software programs designed to damage or do other unwanted actions on computer systems; viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and spyware are the most common types of malware. Computer viruses show us how vulnerable we are; viruses can have a devastating effect on businesses, they disrupt productivity and can cause billions of dollars in damages. They also show us how sophisticated and interconnected we have become. Computer viruses are called viruses because they share some of the traits of biological viruses; computer viruses pass from computer to computer much like a biological virus passes from person to person. Computer viruses are created by people by writing code to create the virus, and designing the attack phase which could be a message or initiate the destruction of a piece of hardware. Early viruses were pieces of code embedded in legitimate programs, like games or word processors. A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs; it might attach itself to a program and each time the program runs the virus runs too, and they can reproduce by attaching to other programs. E-mail viruses travel as an attachments to e-mail messages and can replicate themselves by automatically mailing itself to people in the victim's e-mail address...
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...attack several days before any information was removed from the Target Corporation servers. Target Corporation could have easily prevented the majority of the attack and reduced if not eliminated the amount of credit cards and personal information that was stolen. The fact that Target Corporation was warned of the initial breach, as well as an additional breach, and did not respond for two weeks is unfathomable and unethical. The Target Corporation has a duty to secure any and all credit card and personal information that they collect from their customers. I believe that in this case Target Corporation did not act accordingly and should be held liable. Target Corporations lack of response and inability to take action goes against all ethics and how the situation should have been handled. Target Security Breach In mid 2013 Target Corporation hired a security firm, FireEye, to install a malware detection tool and monitor their network. This malware detection tool was estimated to cost around $1.6 million (Businessweek.com) and seemed like a step in the right direction of upgrading their system and keeping information safe. This move by Target Corporation was put in place to monitor their systems and help prevent customer information from being stolen. This new system would be...
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...Computer Ethics Angel L Rivera CIS106020VA016-1146-001 (Intro to Info Technology) Prof MERRITT, JENNIFER 8.7.2014 1-Describe two (2) potential computer ethics issues associated with holding computers hostage. A- Computer Crime: Attacks on Software through Back Doors or Trojan Horses- The intruder creates a malicious code just like they would to create other types of malware. The code is specifically designed to take control of your computer and then hijack all of your files. The files are then placed in an encrypted format so you no longer have access to them. B- Computer Crime: Attacks on People - Sabotage/Destruction of Data -If you fail to pay, the intruder is capable of creating additional malicious code that will destroy the content of your PC a little bit at a time until you pay up. Another type of ransomware presents itself in the form of a Trojan, which scans all of your PC's directories and drives, and then automatically encrypts all of your files so you cannot access them. The Trojan places the finishing touch on the intrusion by leaving a ransom note. 2-Propose two (2) methods that computer users could use to prevent this type of attack. A- Your best defense is to not click on e-mail attachments from unknown sources and avoid clicking anything in a pop up window that you receive while browsing the Internet. B- Make sure your anti-malware software has the latest and greatest definition files so that it is prepared for the current batch...
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...Computer Ethics and Cyber Crimes Computer ethics has become a vital and necessary aspect in the world today. With the growth of computer use and technology it is imperative that some standards and guidelines are set to protect the public. Today it is common that each household has multiple computers that is utilized by everyone in the household, including children. According to Wall, the term ‘cybercrime’ is widely used today to describe the crimes or harms that result from opportunities created by networked technologies. With the increase of user knowledge comes the increase potential for crimes committed with the use of technology. Cybercrimes can be committed without ever leaving the comfort of ones home and is getting harder to prevent. In this paper specific cybercrimes such as hacking, identify thief, embezzlement, and secure fraud will be analyzed. The one of the most common cybercrimes is hacking. Computer hacking is when someone gains access to another individual's or company's computer network without their knowledge or permission. There are several different types of hacking. Bluetooth hacking is one form. Bluetooth hacking is when the Java programming language is used to gain access to various cellular phones. For this process to work the phone that is targeted to be hacked must be able to support JSR-82, this is the official Java Bluetooth Application Programming Interface. The best way to prevent your phone from being hacked using a bluetooth is to set your...
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...Privacy and Policy By Amanda Mullens Heales Computer Ethics 324 Professor Abedin May 2, 2012 Abstract Can we protect ourselves on the internet? Although the internet is a wonderful place to shop, explore and interact with other people we should always keep our guard up, to protect our privacy. Privacy and Policy Many services are very diverse, so sometimes additional terms or products may apply. Terms of Service for You Tube/Google states that using services do not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights in content you access. And you must obtain permission from its owner or are otherwise permitted by law. Many terms do not grant you the right to use any branding or logo’s used in services. Privacy policy for MySpace describes that use and sharing of personally identifiable information (PII). You must obtain written permission from the member directly. Profile information in a member profile is provided at his or her sole discretion. Facebook privacy states that you must respect others people’s rights. That member will not use Facebook copyrights or trademarks without written permission. Members are not allowed to infringe others peoples intellectual property rights. Or your account will be disabled. If you collect information from users including video, you must obtain their consent and must state clearly what information you are collecting and why. Facebook has changed its privacy policies making information more public...
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