Information Security - Essay Example

The next morning, Barry McPherson, their EVP, released a statement that was well phrased, but still unapologetic. Again, this was the wrong person to give such an announcement. The public relations and brand management team should have been the first people to make the announcement as it hurt their company’s image. The fact that the announcements were made by a spokesman and the EVP was damaging since their announcements came off as unapologetic, considering the major inconveniences suffered by their clients.

The apology eventually came from the EVP, followed closely by the CEO three days after the malfunction of their anti-virus software (Harkins, 2013). This was too late, and the damage to McAfee as a trusted brand had already been done. If the CIO had liaised with the brand and public relations people, the issue would have been solved with less frustration from the clients. In this aspect, while McAfee was able to arrest the situation with relative speed, the communication of the malfunction was more damaging than the malfunction (Harkins, 2013).

The effect that the anti-virus malfunction had on ordinary everyday computer users shows that the world is becoming too reliant on information systems. They have taken over the everyday running of organizations, as well as daily planning for individuals. Information systems are now used to store most of the information and transfer the information (Harkins, 2013). The use of cell phones and computers to communicate has gone up tremendously in the last ten years. It is almost impossible to imagine what life was like when one had to use a cell phone or write a letter.

Increasingly, enterprises are transacting businesses using technology and most accounting is now information system based. The use of information system has also become indispensable to decision making and logistics for most medium and big organizations (Harkins, 2013). Finally, even government agencies are now reliant on information systems. This shows that, as a society, information systems have begun to define how man interacts with information. The advancement of information systems have been good for society and arguing otherwise overlooks how easy it has made decision making at multiple levels.

However, this heightened use has ensured that the law of unintended consequences will apply (Harkins, 2013). In the case of any breach or failure for these systems, the consequences will be far reaching, particularly, if it is on a large scale. Over-reliance on information systems has made society a little more vulnerable. The use of passwords and pin numbers to guard these systems is basic to the threatening vulnerability. Because the society now uses interconnected systems for majority of their activities from banking, to food supply, to power, if anything goes wrong with the systems or they are sabotaged, the effects will be widespread.

The collapse of information system networks due to cyber-attacks by terrorists or system failures, there would be mild paralysis (Harkins, 2013). As can be seen, the McAfee anti-virus update failure caused a lot of inconveniences to their clients. The reimbursement for reasonable expenses was the right thing to do, particularly for those home clients who were hit by the fault. In fact, McAfee was obligated legally to reimburse its clients (Harkins, 2013). Software is dealt with in the US and EU by the consumer guarantee act and other similar acts These require that, in a situation where