Ethics Project - Case Study Example

Ethics in Information Technology Part A My recommendation to the company CEO of the Computer Network Security Company regarding the client who intends to buy partial services is that she should decline the client’s request. One of my bases for this recommendation is that granting the client’s request will contravene the company’s mission of providing comprehensive network security services. Contravening the company’s mission would be equivalent to opening the company up to confusion and lack of clarity of what the company set out to do.

Another thing that underpins my recommendation to the company CEO to decline the client’s request is because doing so would be risking liability in the event of a security breach. This is because the company might not be able to establish the efficacy of the other levels of the client’s security system that were done by another or other computer network security companies (George 45). The risk aversion principle supports my recommendation because the event of liability for a security breach would tarnish the reputation of the company making it lose the trust of its many clients when it would easily borne the loss of one potential client.

When declining to grant the client’s request, the CEO would need to provide the client with sufficient information on all potential risks involved for both the company and the client. This would comply with the guiding principle of the Association of Information Technology Professionals’ ideal of upholding honesty. Finally, my recommendation to decline the client’s request would be to benefit the many clients of the company by reassuring them of the company’s accountability. Based on the utilitarian principle, it would be better for the company to lose this potential client and safeguard the trust of its many clients (George 45).

Part B Snapchat’s actions were not ethical because they would have caused serious damages to its subscribers. As such, the first specific action that Snapchat should have taken would have been to verify whether the security vulnerability was genuine or not in order to be sure of the plan of action. Another specific action for Snapchat would have been to initiate containment measures based on the extent of the vulnerability or the accrued damages in order to attend to its corporate duty of taking care of its clients.

The final action would have been to notify its clients about the security vulnerability and reassure them that it has contained it in order to demonstrate its accountability to its clients (Perlroth & Wortham p8). The actions of Gibson Security Assessment were not ethical because there are other means of raising public awareness on the security vulnerability that people are exposed to by some of their service providers. One specific action would have been to notify Snapchat about the security vulnerability it has discovered in order to give them a chance to look into it.

The next specific action would have been to seek clarification on what Snapchat was doing to remedy the situation in order not defame the company. The other action after discovering that Snapchat was not doing anything about the security vulnerability would have been to report Snapchat to law enforcement authorities in order to demonstrate their concern for the public (BBC 4). The actions of SnapchatDB were not ethical. One action would have been to add its voice to that of Gibson Security Assessment in order to show Snapchat the seriousness of the vulnerability.

Another specific action would have been to address the issue with law enforcement authorities in order to make Snapchat take responsibility of its mistake. Finally, SnapchatDB should have increased public awareness measures in order to prevent a repeat of Snaptchat’s case (Perlroth & Wortham p12). Works CitedPerlroth, Nicole & Wortham, Jenna. “Snapchat Breach Exposes Weak Security”. New York Times. January 2, 2014. Web. April 28, 2014. .George, Richard. The ethics of Information Technology and Business.

Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2003. Print. BBC. “Snapchat hack affects 4.6 million users.” BBC News Technology. January 1, 2014. Web. 28 April, 2014. .