Implementation and Use of Information Systems at University of Southern Quee - Assignment Example

Social, ethical & legal issues arising from the implementation and use of information systems at University of Southern Queensland (USQ) The society we live in today is being transformed by evolving technologies that changes the way we operate at the most fundamental levels, this transformation has been precipitated by a number of trends which directly affect our personal lives. But what is mostly ignored or rather forgotten amidst all the discussion is although Information technology comes with a number of solutions and benefits, it may as well come with its own unique problems at the USQ set up. Some of the problems associated with Information Systems implementation may include: IT-Lag time: According to Kraemer et al. (1980), USQ is likely to experience some wasted years from the time of project implementation, this is the time the university will take between introducing a new system to the time the system has been fully adopted and accepted in the university. This particular lag time is going to delay USQ’s return on investment on that particular information system and this may lead into politics transpiring at the board level which may dent the reputation and credibility of the university. There should also be real time connectivity which enables processes such as billing to be performed on demand regardless of the physical location while at the same time providing USQ’s Students, with real time financial information regardless of their location. Operational feasibility: this is the most critical but often overlooked during the procurement process, when dealing with the planning, acquisition and implementation, operational feasibility attempts to address how well the predetermined technical alternatives are going to be effective within the context of USQ day to day operations and the environment (Braithwaite, 1996). It is a measure of how well the system is going to address the problems mentioned, how well the proposed system is going to solve the problems addressed. The system has to properly function in order for it to be widely accepted within the community around it, and in this regard the USQ students and staffs. Employees: USQ insiders who may be the employees or contractors may access the users financial information via the universities information systems networks and this pose some risk to the university because employees who are experiencing some form of financial difficulties may abuse the system they work with and use it to commit fraud which is likely to put the entire universities reputation in jeopardy and present looming legal lawsuits (Cappelli et al. 2007). Technical employees who work at USQ may abuse their intimate knowledge of the university information system; they then may use technical loopholes in order to sabotage the university information system infrastructure which may be as a form of revenge for some office politics against them or some negative work related issues with their bosses (Cappelli et al. 2007). Phishing: Here fake emails are sent from an agency or individual who pretends to represent USQ, this email may be directed to USQ staff or students asking them for their sensitive personal information, if a user follows this particular malicious link and provides his personal information, the intruder is able to gain access to a users personal account or USQ sensitive information together with the financial details such as credit card numbers (US-CERT, 2008). In such a scenario, USQ portal users may decide to set legal proceedings to the university which might lead into an investigation of carelessness towards USQ, should they be found guilty, then, the university will likely to be liable for the losses accrued. Malwares: These fake, malicious crafted software may dupe USQ system users into believing that they are genuine security products offering protection during online transactions, they may direct users into fake portals that resemble USQ portals, in which thereafter a user has entered his/her confidential information, those information such as credit card numbers will be used to make unauthorized purchases or even the credit/debit card numbers may be auctioned in the internet. Malware may also captures users keystrokes hence having access to their personal login information; they may then sell copyrighted materials such as those ones found for distance learning students to online auctions, expose USQ’s secrets to the general public or use the materials in a negative way in order to dent the universities reputation with the students. The malicious links generated by malwares may be used in conducting some online survey, these surveys may be from USQ competitors whom would like to know their secrets or they may be even from legitimate companies that want their surveys to be done free of charge. There is also spamming which involves the sending of unsolicited mass mails, spam are known to consume a lot of resources and they are mainly used as a delivery mechanism for some other types of cyber attacks such as denial of service (GAO, 2005). Fig 1.1diagram depicting the blending of emerging threats and how the threats bypass the traditional security controls (Fig 1.1 available at http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/gao/d05231.pdf) When threats combine (Spam, Malware, spyware) they evolve into what is known as a blended threat, this easily by passes most security controls which may be at the network level or workstation level. For instance, if a user has been attacked, this attack automatically downloads a spyware together with a key logger, this key logger may monitor the USQ system for any financial transactions and automatically captures users information, passwords and sends them back to the authors. These threats may also come in form of legitimate IT services in form of emails, messages or legitimate websites, this makes it very difficult for intrusion detection systems such as firewalls, email spam filter and email antivirus to detect them which is mainly at the network control, they then proceed on to workstation control level where they find weaker systems such as personal ant viruses which they easily deceive as legitimate service in which thereafter they automatically execute in the system without users knowledge. Spywares are mainly used to deliver advertising related materials to users, they collect information pertaining to user such as IP address, web surfing history and buying habits. They can change browser settings so that they may easily re-direct users to sites filled with advertisements. They may also be used for surveillance and can be designed specifically to retrieve user’s information. Business process & I.T failure Operational Processes These particular processes consist of the core business units such as purchasing, marketing and sales. In purchasing or rather procurement, information system is likely to aid in data recording, purchase request, new orders and cancellation, contracts, invoices and supplier evaluation. When the system experiences unnecessary downtime, there is a huge likelihood that a lot of time is going to be spend in manual paper work which is going to cost a lot of money and time for USQ (Delloite, 2010) Marketing: This is also a very vulnerable process, most of the marketing campaigns are sent via Short text Messages (SMS), Search engine optimization and direct referral which may be via promotional links that directs users directly to USQ official website. When the server that controls the website is down, these services will become paralysed and any marketing effort being directed to USQ website is not likely to be as effective as when the website was up and running and this might dent the reputation of the university because prospective students are likely to consider USQ unreliable mainly because their website collapsed. Payments: Whenever there is system breakup, USQ cannot easily accept payments whether they are inform of cheques, cash or online payment such as credit cards, this forces the university to resort into some emergency manual method of collecting cash but in case of distance learners who are probably located miles away, their payments services will be completely paralysed and they may raise issue into the credibility of USQ. When it comes to settling bills such as invoices from suppliers, utility payments and processing of salaries, there is likelihood of delay when the payment portal is down, this may result into lower workforce morale, termination of crucial services such as electricity, water, gas, telephone, and internet, this might affect the entire university and may even set some legal proceeding between USQ’s students, staffs and suppliers due to lack of on time compensation for services rendered. Distance Learning: With the university also offering distance learning, in which most of the teacher student interactions are usually being conducted via their with digital technologies via the institution main website as the main communication portal, this form of learning is mostly very popular with the international students and the working class students or parents who would like to take care of their kids while learning. Digital technologies are used and distance learning at Southern Queensland University may involve technologies such as self paced learning modules, podcasts, communication & assessment tools, multimedia case studies, simulations, and video tutorials which effectively increases learning experience and opportunities for both the adult students and their instructors (O.V.A.E, 2010). With distance learning, Southern Queensland university students may enjoy services such as enquiry and course advice, receipt of fees, enrolment information, tutorials and study groups, ordering and distribution of textbooks, access to digital library facilities, assignment dispatch and video conferences (U.S.Q, 2009). Whenever the system experiences downtime, then the entire distance learning unit is going to be affected. This may be as a result of power outages such as blackouts or power surges, system failures such as server downtime, intrusion which might lead to denial of service attacks hence paralysing crucial services such as email and chatting systems. References Kraemer, KL, Danziger, JN & King, JL 1982, Local government and information technology, Praeger publishers, New York. Braithwaite, T 1996, the power of IT: Maximizing your technology investments, ASQC Quality press, Milwaukee, WI, USA. Andrei, T 2009, Cloud computing challenges and Related Security Issues, Washington University in St.Louis, viewed 15 April 2010 < http://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/cse571-09/ftp/cloud.pdf >. Cappelli, DM, Desai, AG, Moore, AP, Shimeall, TJ, Weaver, EA & Willke, BJ 2007, Management and Education of the risk of insider threat (MERIT): System Dynamics Modelling of Computer System sabotage, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) 2008, Banking Securely Online, Washington DC, USA, viewed 16 April 2010 < http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/Banking_Securely_Online07102006.pdf>. Government Accountability Office (GAO) 2005, Information Security, Emerging Cyber security Issues threaten Federal Information Systems, Washington D.C, USA, viewed 23 April 2010 < http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/gao/d05231.pdf>. University of Southern Queensland (USQ) 2009, Studying by distance education at USQ, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia, viewed 16 April 2010 < http://www.usq.edu.au/futurestudents/distanceed/ > Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), Technology and distance learning, Washington, D.C, USA, viewed 18 April 2010 < http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/tdlearn.html>. Delloite 2010, Procurement Information Systems Support, Viewed 25th April 2010 http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_CZ/cz/services/consulting/supplychain/procurement-information-system-support/index.htm Read More