Ethics and the Law
Ethics
Ethics comes from a Greek word ethe’
which means character.
A set of theories of value, virtue or of right
action
A set of theories to provide general
rules/principles to be used in making
moral decisions
– to provide justification for those rules
Every human action is judged to be
good/bad based on these theories
What is Computer Ethics?
According to James H. Moore, who is
believed to have first coined the phrase
"computer ethics", computer ethics is
the analysis of the nature and social
impact of computer technology and the
corresponding formulation and
justification of policies for the ethical use
of such technology
It is a study, an analysis of the values
of human actions influenced by
computer technology.
Computer influence on human
actions is widespread throughout the
decision making process preceding
the action
Why study computer and
information ethics
Apply ethical point of view to realworld computing context
Identify and solve ethical problems in
specific fields of computing
Why You Should Study Computer
Ethics?
Moore’s contention is that the central task of
computer ethics, in decision making processes
that involve computer technology, should be
to “determine what should be done”
whenever there is a policy vacuum.
It is difficult to fully explain the cause of these
vacuums, but one can say that they are
mainly caused by the ‘confusion’ between the
known policies and what is presented.
So naturally one would come to a
conclusion that since we cannot stop
computer technology which causes these
muddles, we need a plan of action that
will work with the changing computing
technology and at the same time deal with
the ethical issues that do arise
There are two schools of thought:
– One school, believes in the study of computer
ethics as remedial moral education
– The other school believes in computer ethics
education not as a moral education but as a
field worthy of study in its own right
Walter Maner explains the existence
of the two schools with the views
that:
– the involvement of computers in human
conduct can create entirely new ethical
issues, unique to computing, that do not
surface in other areas.
According to Maner, we should study Computer
Ethics because:
– doing so will make us behave like responsible
professionals
– doing so will teach us how to avoid computer
abuse and catastrophes
– the advance of computing technology will
continue to create temporary policy vacuums
– the use of computing permanently transforms
certain ethical issues to the degree that their
alterations require independent study
– the use of computing technology creates, and
will continue to create, novel ethical issues that
require special study.
Anatomy of the Problem
Recent terrorist attacks and the
raise in cyber attacks have
raised concern about the security
of information, security of
individuals, and a need to protect
the nation’s cyber infrastructure
Will there ever be an end to
these?
Cyberspace infrastructure and
communication protocols are inherently
weak
The average user in cyberspace
has very limited knowledge of the
computer network infrastructure,
its weaknesses and gapping
loopholes.
Society, as a whole, is increasingly
becoming irreversibly dependent on an
infrastructure and technology that it
There are no long-term, let alone immediate
plans and mechanism in place or planned to
educate the public.
There is a high degree of compliancy in a
society that still accords a "Wiz Kid" status to
cyberspace vandals
The only known remedy mechanisms and
solutions to the problem are patching
loopholes after an attack has occurred.
The price of this escalating problem is yet
to be known.
Reporting is voluntary, haphazard, and
quite often at will.
The nation is yet to understand the seriousness
of cyber vandalism.
What are the causes?
Vendetta/Revenge
Demonstrations at World Trade Organization
(WTO) in Seattle, Washington, the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund
in Washington, D.C., Prague, Hungry, and
Geneo Italy – against globalization.
Joke/Hoax/Prank
The Hacker's Ethics
All information should be free
Terrorism
Political and Military Espionage
Business ( Competition) Espionage
Hate (national origin, gender, and race)
Personal gain/Fame/Fun/Notoriety
Ignorance
Challenges in Tracking Cyber
Criminals
Nearly in all countries there is no required
reporting mechanism in government
agencies, even the private sector, to detect
intrusions and report such intrusions
In the private sector, there is very little
interest in reporting of any system related
intrusions. This is a result of the fear of
marketplace forces that would expose
management’s weaknesses to the
shareholder community and competitors.
There is no adequate enforcement
of existing reporting mechanisms
The insider effect, it is reported in
some studies that most e-attacks
are generated and started by
inside employees. This makes the
job of detection and reporting very
murky. It is like having an
arsonist working in the fire
department
Many nations have no required
and trained security agencies to
fight e-attacks.
Social and Ethical
Consequences
Psychological effects – these include hate and
joke especially on an individual.
– may lead to individual reclusion,
– increasing isolation, and such trends may
lead to dangerous and costly repercussions on
the individual, corporations and society as a
whole.
Moral decay – There is a moral imperative in all
our actions. When human actions, whether bad
or good, become so frequent, they create a level
of familiarity that leads to acceptance as
“normal”. This type of acceptance of actions
formerly viewed as immoral and bad by society
lead to moral decay.
Loss of privacy – After an attack, there is
usually an over reaction and a resurgence in the
need for quick solutions to the problem that
seems to have hit home. Many businesses are
responding with patches, filters, ID tools, and a
whole list of “solutions”.
profile scanners and straight email
scanners like Echlon. Echlon is a high-tech
U.S. government spying software housed in
England. It is capable of scanning millions
of emails given specific keywords.
Tracking technology to lead to virus
writers.
Trust – Along with privacy lost, is trust lost.
Individuals once attacked, lose trust in a person,
group, company or anything else believed to be
the source of the attack or believed to be unable
to stop the attack.
Law
Rules of conduct or actions
recognized by customs or decreed by
a formal body and enforceable by
some instrument.
We obey two types of laws: Natural
and Conventional
Natural Law
Unwritten but universal
consists of rights:
– Self-defense (preservation)
– Individual property
– Liberty
It is a higher form of human law,
therefore, independent of human
preferences and applies to all rational
creatures of nature
Before organized human societies,
humans existed because of natural law.
Civilization is based on it.
Conventional Law
It is a system of rules created by and for
human beings – through, though not
always, public deliberations
It varies from society to society
Its purpose is to:
– Protect human life, property and liberty.
– prescribe a system or punishments for
unlawful acts – Penal Code
Law and Ethics
Most laws are derived from moral codes
Though law often embodies ethical principals, law
and ethics are far from co-extensive.
There are many acts that would be widely
condemned as unethical but are not prohibited by
law, that is there are not illegal-- lying or
betraying the confidence of a friend, for example.
There are also many acts that are considered
illegal but ethical.
– In much that the law does it is not simply codifying
ethical norms.
WHAT CONSTITUTES A COMPUTER CRIME?
The United States Department of
Justice states that computer crime is
any illegal act for which
– knowledge of computer technology is
essential for either its perpetration,
investigation, or prosecution. ( Of
course, this presupposes knowledge of
whether or not an act is illegal).
CODES OF ETHICS
Codes of ethics establish broad rules of
conduct for a profession and its members,
and thus can be differentiated from an
individual moral code which governs
particular decisions in both private and
professional life.
Codes of ethical conduct for the professional
and moral decisions for the individual
overlap with legal requirements but are
distinct from them.
Codes of Ethics and Law
Legal provisions and professional codes of
ethics are often in agreement--that is,
professional conduct is usually both legal
and ethical, or occasionally both illegal
and unethical.
Sometimes, however, the two may not
clearly coincide and the resulting conflict
may pose some real dilemmas for the
professional.
Professional conduct may be unethical and
yet remain legal; in some instances
conduct may be illegal and yet still be
ethical.
A simple topology will illustrate the
relation between law and ethics.
Computer Laws: Federal
Computer Laws: States
Computer Crime Laws
by State http://nsi.org/Library/Compsec
/computerlaw/statelaws.html