Question

Describe the most concerning issues and ethical considerations in HIS today. Which of these issues seem solvable and which do not?

Answer 1

To begin with, it seems that there are four big areas of computer ethics. They are "(1) computer crime; (2) responsibility for computer failure; (3) protection of computer property, records, and software; and (4) privacy of the company, workers, and customers”. (De George 338) This part of our discussion will focus primarily on computer crime and privacy.

Computer Crime

Computer Crime is intellectual, white-collar crime. Those that commit such crimes must be intelligent enough to manipulate a computer system and in such a position to access it in the first place. One example of computer crime is stealing funds via computer. Often the worst that can happen to such a thief is that he/she is merely required to return the stolen money. Many times that person will be fired, assuming he/she is an employee, but may be quickly hired by a competitor because of his/her skill. This creates practically no deterrent to committing computer theft because legal action is not often taken against the perpetrator.

Another example is unauthorized computer entry. In entering a computer unauthorized, the perpetrator can steal a company's trade secrets and data. Such a crime could be committed by an employee aiming to sell such secrets to a competitor or by an outside source wanting to steal such secrets to promote his/her own well-being. This crime involves both an invasion of property and privacy and also compromises the computer system itself.

This crime goes along with the idea of hacking. Hacking is defined as "any computer-related activity which is not sanctioned or approved of by an employer or owner of a system or network” (Forester 44). Such an activity deals with the ethical dilemma of who actually owns information and who should have access to that information. At many universities, Computer Science professors have their students hack into the university's system to prove their skill and knowledge of computer systems.

This poses a serious ethical dilemma. Since the students are not causing any harm to the system, is such an action morally reprehensible or acceptable? Many computer professionals feel that this act is not ethically sanctioned and the Computer Science professors must address the issue of computer ethics more fervently in their classes.