Unethical Behavior at All Levels of Society - Research Paper Example

Table of Contents Introduction 2. Information systems and ethics 3. Hacking for pleasure 2 4. Cracking software 2 5. Justification by hackers 3 6. Impact of hacking 3 7. Ethical hackers 4 8. Conclusion 5 References 7 1. Introduction Ethics and behavior have been issues of debates and discussion for decades and there is no consensus yet on what constitutes unethical behavior. While unethical behavior exists at all levels of society in some form in varying degrees, cyber crimes have been escalating. Hacking in the form of spoofing and Denial of Services, and cracking of security codes result in massive losses to individual and firms alike. Hackers are motivated by intellectual curiosity. The more secure the system the more interested they become (Hulme, 2000). Most often they are high school students but disgruntled employees too, engage in hacking the system out of vengeance (Shimonski, 2002). Hacking and cracking, under no circumstances, can be considered ethical. 2. Information systems and ethics Ethics deals with the right or wrong conduct and ethical or unethical behavior is part of the corporate environment. Information systems today have become a major part of the corporate decision-making process and hence ethics and information systems are interconnected. Since unethical behavior pervades the society, unethical behavior in the computer systems is not surprising (Cardinali, 1995). Hacking of people’s account or accessing password is invasion of privacy. Hackers are unauthorized but talented people. Hackers, according to Smith and Rupp (2002), belong to five categories. They could be novices, students, tourists, crashers and thieves. Usually they are in their teens and their motivation is enjoyment at breaking into the computer system, contends Cardinali. Hackers impersonate and extract valuable information on the corporate computer system. Security breaches can result in losses running into millions. Businesses are developing ethics code and this itself implies that hacking is unethical. 3. Hacking for pleasure Hackers engage in hacking for the sheer pleasure it provides and they remain committed to the skill of hacking. However, hacking and cracking has, and will always be destructive and anti-social (Best, 2006). Hackers consider this to be a harmless act. Hackers construct a boundary between self and the others. Script kiddies is a group comprising of teenagers who use automated hacking programs. Being below the age of 18 does not absolve them of crimes committed. They may not be punishable by the court. However, no form of hacking can justify itself, for, pleasure desired for the self at the loss of another, will never be ethical. Hackers are trying to claim that they are being ethical in alerting the people and those responsible for the system, of problems with security and software glitches. Hackers further justify saying that they explore and seek new knowledge out of curiosity. They may be exploring new knowledge and alerting the public but, they misuse this knowledge for their personal gains and hence it can never be ethical. 4. Cracking software Cracking software is another issue that is totally unethical. Software is very costly to produce and equally easy to duplicate and distribute (Goode & Cruise, 2006). The software carries copyright and the producers try to make it difficult to obtain illegal copies of copyrighted software. However, the producers realize that those determined to by-pass the copyright will find ways to crack the code and make illegal copies. Software crackers feel they are helping others by providing free software and they attain entertainment value by distributing free software. The crackers have an intrinsic motivation that allows them to feel competent and self-determining. They justify that it is their inner quest to know more and they do not fear punishment. They also claim that through the free distribution of pirated software they are increasing the user base. However, the crackers do cause loss of revenue to the producers for their own satisfaction. Hackers even exploit software flaws even before the computer users have a chance to fix them (Bank, 2004). They even take advantage of the security vulnerability for which no patch exists. 5. Justification by hackers Steven Levy, in his book, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, asserts that these are computer specialists who are motivated to spend their time in identifying and publishing information about security challenges, and weaknesses within the software and the computer systems (Carroll, 2008). These computer experts, known as hackers actually seek to identify security weaknesses and make the organizations cognizant of security risks. The hacker culture has had a massive impact on technology. It has also led to the concept of open-source software which finds that if a computer code can be analyzed and shared openly, then the security vulnerabilities can be easily identified. However, even though this may sound as if the society and the organizations stand to benefit, it is the hackers that benefit. 6. Impact of hacking Hacking of individual online accounts has become so pervasive that American Bankers Association (ABA) is seeking consumer partnership to control the cyber attacks (Acohido, 2010). Hackers use malicious software program like Trojan to pilfer back accounts. Financial institutions that issue debit and credit cards are the biggest cyber targets. After learning the banking program, the hackers collect data through the browsers. They are able to obtain coding security holes as the browsers do not support secure financial transactions. The hackers soon get control of the online accounts. They can even alter the balances visible to the accountholders and quietly withdraw or transfer funds. In 2008, the US lost approximately $1 trillion through hack attacks which has prompted President Obama to confess that nation’s economic prosperity in the 21st century would depend on reducing such attacks (Jensen, 2010). Such attacks by hackers do not in any way justify their curiosity and intellectual competence. The intention is absolute clear and under no circumstances can it be called ethical. Perhaps, in the initial stages they start off with curiosity but as they gain experience and expertise, the pleasure is no more from the experience of hacking. Taking over poorly monitored chat rooms and message boards at public websites, stealing credit card details, offering software code to break into accounts (Grow & Beucke, 2005), cannot be termed intellectual curiosity. 7. Ethical hackers When the goal is to fill security holes, and not exploit them, it is termed as ethical hacking (Hulme, 2000). Companies usually wait for a hacker to exploit their vulnerabilities by which time they have incurred losses. Instead, if the companies hired such experts who could scan their system for vulnerabilities, they could protect the system. Such security consultants are known as ethical hackers but companies need to be cautious when availing the services of such hackers. These ethical hackers have a record of never failing to gain control of any system they have hacked ethically. They take pride in turning their skills into paying proposition. In fact, certified courses are available termed Certified Ethical Hacker, where the IT security professionals learn how to hack to protect their own system from vulnerabilities (Anonymous, 2008). Even associate degree programs focusing on computer security teach the students to protect their computer systems (Jett, 2008). The ethical hacking students are taught tricks to use the directory posted on the company website to reach the right person and extract all important details about the company. Even though this may be termed ethical hacking, none advises organizations to employ such hackers. There is nothing ethical in extracting and misusing information or causing problems for others, such as security breaches. Onstand and Rose (1996) contend that most hackers are harmless, especially the ones that start out of curiosity even before they enter teens. True, they may not even be aware that it is unethical to hack, and they do it for sheer pleasure. However, it is still unethical. If hackers try to justify that hacking is unconcerned with age and education, then the same ethics apply to all hackers, irrespective of age. Some argue that hackers fulfill a function as they ensure that the companies work twice as hard to protect their systems. In reality, hackers are a threat to any person or an organization that uses computer and computer networks. 8. Conclusion Ethics is about right or wrong and any action that creates problems or financial losses to others, is a wrong action. Hacking or cracking may be undertaken by intelligent people with an intrinsic motivation to gain deeper insights into the computer systems. However, their efforts do not stop there. It could be called ethical hacking had they used the knowledge to advice people, society and the organization and protected their systems. Instead, hackers have been exploiting their knowledge and skills with the clear intention of causing harm. They may be students or tourists, novices or thieves, the act of hacking would still be unethical. The so-called ethical hackers feel they are serving the society by providing free software through the Net; they also feel that they are serving the software producer by increasing the user base. These are mere justifications to cover their unethical acts of hacking and cracking. They are misusing their intelligence under the garb of making the organizations cognizant of the vulnerabilities in their computer system. As technology advances, hacking and cracking increases. The hackers find it challenging to handle difficult situations as security is being increased. Hackers can never be harmless even if they have started out of curiosity. Hacking has been and will always be unethical. References Acohido, B. (2010). Banks Urge Customers To Help Stop Cyberattacks. Retrieved October 4, 2010 from http://www.enterprise-security-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74578&page=1 Anonymous. (2008). Certified Ethical Hacker is Big News for Local Small Business: The Academy of Computer Education. Business Wire. New York: Dec 22, 2008. Bank, D. (2004). Mydoom Worm Renews Debate On Cyber-Ethics. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Nov 11, 2004. pg. B.1 Best, K. (2006). Visceral Hacking or Packet Wanking? The Ethics of Digital Code. Culture, Theory & Critique. 47 (2), 213-235 Cardinali, R. (1995). Reinforcing our moral vision: examining the relationship between unethical behaviour and computer crime. Work Study. 44 (8), 11-17 Carroll, J. (2008). Hacker or digital vigilante? CA Magazine. 141 (8), 14 Goode, S., & Cruise, S. (2006). What Motivates Software Crackers? Journal of Business Ethics. 65, 173-201 Grow, B., & Beucke, D. (2005). Psst! Wanna Hack Into PayPal? BusinessWeek. 11/28/2005, 3961, 13. Hulme, G.V. (2000). Vulnerabilities beckon some with a license to hack. Information Week. 809, 186-189 Jensen, E.T. (2010). Cyber Warfare and Precautions Against the Effects of Attacks. Texas Law Review. 88 (7), 1533-1569 Jett, C. (7 December). Training hackers to thwart hackers: Germanna Community College courses teach students how to think like hackers to prevent attacks. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Washington: Dec 7, 2008. Onstand, K., & Rose, B.W. (1996). s this any way to run cyberspace?: Why the hacker ethos is bad for the net. Canadian Business. 69 (9), 42-46 Smith, A.D., & Rupp, W.T. (2002). Issues in cyber security: understanding the potential risks associated with hackers/crackers. Information Management & Computer Security. 10 (4), 178-183 Read More