Week 5 - Ethics and Security

Explain the ethical issues surrounding information technology.
Ethics surrounding the information technology concerns the ethical and moral issues arising from the development and use of information technologies as well as the creation, duplication, distribution and processing of information itself. Issues might include.

• Individuals copy, use and distribute software.
• Employees search organisational databases for sensitive corporate and personal information.
• Organisations collect, buy and use information without checking the validity or accuracy of the information.
• Individuals create and spread viruses that cause trouble for those using and maintaining IT systems.
• Individuals hack into computer systems to steal proprietary information.
• Employees destroy or steal proprietary information.
• Employees destroy or steal proprietary organisation information such as schematics, sketches, customer lists and reports.

Other issues also including the ethical issues surrounding copyright infringement and intellectual property rights are consuming the eBusiness world. The 5 main technology security issues include:

• Intellectual property - The collection of rights that protect creative and intellectual effort.
• Copyright - The exclusive right to do, or omit to do, certain acts with intangible property such as a song, video game and some types of proprietary documents.
• Fair use doctrine - The unauthorized use, duplication, distribution, or sale of copyrighted software.
• Counterfeit software - Software that is manufactured to look like the real thing and sold as such.

X-Men: Science Can Build Them, But Is It Ethical?

Describe a situation involving technology that is ethical but illegal.
In 2008, the Australian Privacy Commissioner found that a betting agency obtained access to consumers' credit information files held by a credit reporting agency breached the Privacy Act 1988.
Under the Privacy Act, credit providers can obtain access to credit information in the possession or control of a credit reporting agency. The commissioner found that the betting agency was not a credit provider, even though the agency provided betting services to its customers on credit.

Describe and explain one of the computer use policies that a company might employee
Email is one that people use every day and should be watched closely by the company with its computer policies. Organisations should have a policy that:

• Clearly sets out how employees may use email and the internet for private and non-employment purposes.
• States what activities are permitted and those which are not permitted.
• Details the type of information that will be recorded and the members of the organisation that will have access to that information.
• Provides for the monitoring and auditing process that will consider the information.

What are the 5 main technology security risks? Outline one way to reduce each risk.

•Human Error

•Not Malicious

•By Humans

•Natural Disasters

•Floods

•Earthquakes

•Terrorist Attack

•Technical Failures

•Software Bugs

•Hardware Crashes

•Deliberate Acts

•Sabotage

•White Collar Crime

•Management Failure

•Lack of Procedure

•Documentation

•Training

What is a disaster recovery plan, what strategies might a firm employee?
A disaster recovery plan is a detailed process for recovering information or an IT system in the event of a catastrophic disaster such as fire or flood.
The strategies include: 

• ◦Communications plan
• ◦Alternative Sites – hot or warm site
• ◦Business Continuity
•  Location of Backup data

Textbook: Baltzan, Phillips, Lynch & Blakey, Business Driven Information Systems, 1st Australian/New Zealand ed, chapter 4