Ethics, Security, Privacy - Essay Example

Chapter 5: Ethics, Security, Privacy Ex Summary of the Main Points The growing dependencyof information technology has resulted to the rise of issues related to the use of equipment and infrastructure that necessitate the use of information technology. The main issues in information technology revolve around the fundamental issues of ethics, security, and privacy as detailed in this chapter. Under the issue of ethics, the chapter addresses this issue based on its applicability in information technology while focusing on the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Code of Ethics for Professional Conduct. In this case, ACM’s code forms the basis of explaining ethical issues due to its big membership spread across most of the countries in the world. The code epitomizes the fundamental principles of TQM such as trustworthiness, integrity and honoring commitments. Overall, the ACM’s code has 24 principles that determine ethics in a situation. The rise of the internet has brought new forms of crimes such as cyber-bullying and identity theft. However, one approach of preventing issues such as identity theft includes awareness that allows an individual to monitor their online activities. In this case, it is important for an individual to be aware of issues such as online scams, spam emails that steal one’s identity, the right software to use online, and information to share over the internet. Security is pertinent in an issue that involves buying and selling products online. Businesses and customers should know that the failure to remain vigilant was expensive and caused unanticipated losses. Apparently, web-based security attacks have been on the rise, and there is no sign of them ending soon. In this case, criminals create Trojans, malware, spywares, worms, adware, and botnets to steal information and compromise internet users. However, simple Antivirus software can help an individual ensure that they did not compromise their security while using any software they did not trust the source. Conversely, it is important to buy, or download, antivirus from trusted sources since the internet has antivirus programs that are compromised. Finally, it is important to ensure that an individual observed measures that enhanced the privacy of their data online. With the rise of the social networks, it is important for users to observe the amount of information they released to people in their network. In addition, users should also ensure that they effectively used the privacy setting on these sites to protect their data. On the other hand, an encryption key is crucial to secure data mostly in institutions such as banks to ensure that data was not available to unauthorized people. While all these measures are useful, security issues remain an area of concern online with hackers devising innovative approaches to steal data. One such ingenious approach is phishing, which lures people to provide their credit card information to hackers and cyber thieves who use the information. Nonetheless, different approaches can prevent an individual from such activities although it is important for individuals to present such information to authorities who will investigate the phishing issue. To protect an individual from phishing, simple toolbars such as Netcraft Toolbar can protect a user from dangerous links. In addition, it is important for internet users to ensure that they visited secure sites by conducting a simple check on the address bar. Finally, creating a back up for all files will protect a user in case their systems were compromised. Ex. 2: Recent Internet Scam In one of the latest internet scams, internet users are getting email messages purportedly from Microsoft. In this case, the email from the address privacy@microsoft.com is a design by a phisher to steal passwords of email users. In this case, the scam targets AOL, Gmail, Yahoo, and Windows Live email addresses with a view of stealing the usernames and passwords of users (Li). The subject of the email is “Microsoft Windows Update” (Li). By default, the email address and the subject of the email passes out as authentic since an individual will view it as a message sent from Microsoft with intent to the user to verify their email in order to ensure updates on the software, which might be outdated. In the first paragraph, the message indicates to the addressed internet user that the company, in this case Microsoft, has observed that the individual’s “Microsoft windows Installation records” are no longer up to date. In turn, the email informs the internet user that each installation of Windows will have to be synchronized with an email address in order for the individual to be obtaining the daily updates from the company (Li). In effect, this first paragraph sets the pace for the contents of the scam message. In the second paragraph, the email indicates to the user that they should verify their email address and the failure to follow the verification process of verification would result to suspension (Li). in effect, the email offers a ‘VERIFY’ message at the bottom of the email address, which the user should click and proceed with the ‘email verification’ process so that the Windows' user can continue having daily updates of their software and avoid ‘suspension’ (Li). First, this hoax is not in line with the third ACM ethical code of conduct that requires all information technology users to be honest and trustworthy while engaging other users. In this case, the message sent by these phishers, who of course are information technology users, is not honest, and their behavior is not trustworthy at all. In this regard, they lack honesty because they are using a Company’s name to solicit for email passwords that they will use for other purposes, which are usually illegal. Furthermore, they are cheating the internet user about the ability of Microsoft to ‘suspend’ the user from using the software, software that could be genuine and did not require such a process to remain updated. In effect, their actions are not driven by honesty and trustworthiness as is required of information technology users by the ACM. It is obvious that the phisher intended to cause harm to other users of information technology. In effect, this is against the ACM’s second code of ethics that require information technology users to ensure that their actions did not cause harm to other people in the information technology sector. Therefore, their actions were not ethical practice according to the expectations of the ACM. In addition, they broke the first requirement in the ACM’s code of ethics that require information technology users to ensure that their contributions to the society were positive. In this case, they intended to use the passwords for malicious purposes without disregard of other information technology users, which is unethical. On the other hand, the behavior of the phishers does not honor copyrights and patents, which is contrary to the ACM’s code of ethics that require individuals in the information technology sector to ensure that they honored property rights including patents and copyrights. In this regard, these phishers are using Microsoft’s name in violation of the expected ethical practices. In addition, these phishers do not have respect for the privacy of other information technology users. In this case, the messages they sent were unsolicited since they invaded the privacy of other users by sending email messages to people, considering that email addresses are personal. In effect, they broke the ACM’s code of ethics that required information technology users to respect the privacy of other users. There are various ways that an individual could determine that the email was a hoax, or scam. However, it is crucial to point out that the email appeared slick, and it would appear authentic to most users. Nonetheless, there are mistakes that could be detected from the email content. First, there were instances whereby the grammar used implied that the message was not authentic. In this case, there are instances of capitalization that betray the source of the message. In the first paragraph, the author of the message capitalized the letter ‘I’ in the word ‘installation’ in the first instance, and failed to do the same in the same word that appeared in the sentence. First, the word should not have been capitalized in the first instance, which betrays the authenticity of the message. In the second paragraph, the author of the message also capitalized the first letters in the words “Email Account.” These two are grammatical errors that betray the authenticity of the message. Other than issues of grammar in the message, clicking on the ‘verify’ message did not lead an individual to Microsoft’s website, but to a third party website (Li). In effect, this implies that the third party is the one who intended to use the email address of users who fell for this ploy. The information provided in the site asked people to submit their email address and password; information that the website will use to access the users’ emails. Finally, another give away to the message will be an incident whereby an iMac user was sent this message. It is common knowledge that iMacs do not use any software from Microsoft. In effect, such a message sent to an iMac user indicates that the message was a hoax. Ex. 3: TRUE/FALSE Questions 1. False 2. True 3. True 4. True 5. False 6. True 7. True 8. False 9. False 10. True 11. True 12. True 13. False 14. True 15. False 16. False 17. False 18. True 19. False 20. False 21. False 22. True 23. True 24. False 25. False 26. True 27. False 28. True 29. False 30. False 31. False 32. False 33. True 34. False 35. True 36. True 37. False 38. True 39. False 40. False Works Cited Li, Anita. Microsoft Windows Update Hoax Steals Your Passwords. 26 Sep. 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. . Read More