BAB 13

Ethics refers to a set of moral values or principles that govern the conduct of an individual or a group. People in most countries agree that they are entitled to the right of privacy-the right of people not to reveal information about themselves , the right to keep personal information, such as credit ratings and medical histories, from getting into the wrong hands. The development of computers and large electronic databases has facilitated the collection of information about individuals. In the past, this information has been sold to marketing groups without the individuals consent. any people believe this is an unethical practice. The information that is collected about individuals and is then transmitted to credit reporting companies is often error ridden, causing people to be denied loans and !obs, in addition to causing other problems. "eemingly private information about individuals, such as medical records, has been disseminated to employers and others and used to make decisions about which the individuals may know nothing. #onsumers groups are trying to correct the problems involving data collection and dissemination and make information sellers more responsible by advocating $ %. Improved accuracy $ information sellers must correct mistakes in the data, no matter where it came from. &. 'ree reports$ at the re(uest of an individual, information sellers must provide a copy of the individuals report for free once a year. ). Protect privacy$ companies that sell data must give an individual a clear chance to prevent sales of personal data to marketers. *. Improved service$ credit denial notices should include a list of consumers rights. Investigations of errors should take no more than )+ days. ,. -etter enforcement$ credit reporters should be penali.ed for violating the law. The use of electronic communications and information networks has also raised ethical concerns about the censorship of some messages and the electronic spying on message contents by supervisors in companies and directors of information services. The /nited "tates has passed several ma!or laws in an attempt to protect individual privacy and regulate the selling of information. #omputers have given birth to copyright issues, including the following

 "oftware and network piracy$ software piracy is theft or unauthori.ed distribution or use of copyrighted or patented material. 0etwork piracy is using electronic networks to distribute unauthori.ed copyrighted material in digiti.ed form. Plagiarism $ plagiarism is the e1propriation of another writers te1t, finding, or interpretations and presentation of them as ones own. 2wnership of images and sound$ computers make it possible to alter images and sounds. 3ho owns the copyright to the altered image4 any artists have protected themselves by paying a flat fee or a royalty to the original copyright !older. 3hen computers edit sound, photos, and video, there are other issues worth considering. 'or instance, it is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish between altered and unaltered photos, video, and recordings. any threats to computers and communications systems e1ist including $ Errors and accidents$ computer errors and accidents occur for a number of reasons including people errors, procedural errors, software errors 5software bugs6, electromechanical problems, and dirty data problems 5that is, data that is inaccurate6. 0atural and other ha.ards$ some disasters can ruin a computer system including natural ha.ards such as fires, floods, earth(uakes, and the like. 7lso, civil strife and terrorism can cause much unrest, causing companies to move entire computer networks to a different location. #rimes against information technology $ #rimes against information technology include theft of hardware, theft of software, theft of time and services, theft of information, and crimes of malice and destruction. #rimes using information technology$ computers fraud is alive on computer networks. 'or e1ample, scam artists offer none1istent investment deals. 2r lies spread via a network, such as a 8bogus9 e-mail message about a local gang ritual, may cause people to act on the misinformation and get hurt. :iruses$ computer viruses are 8deviant9 programs that can cause destruction to computers that contract them. The principal types of viruses are boot sector viruses and file viruses. #omputer criminals$ computer criminals are people who perpetrate information technology crime. 2ver ;+< of computer criminals are employees. The rest are outside users, hackers and crackers, and professional criminals. Information technology re(uires vigilance in security. "ecurity is a system of safeguards for protecting information technology against disasters, systems failure, or unauthori.ed access that can result in damage or loss. 'our approaches to adding security to a computer system are$

%. Identification and access -efore you are allowed access to a computer$ &. Encryption- encryption is the altering of data so that it is not usable unless the changes are undone. Encryption is particularly useful for organi.ations concerned with trade secrets, military matters, and other sensitive data. ). Protection of software and data- companies go to great lengths to protect their software and data. 2ne method they use is to control access to the computer system. In addition, companies use audit controls to track which programs and servers were used, which files opened, and so on, and people controls, including e1tensive !ob screening and restricted access to other departments in the company. *. =isaster-recovery plans- 7 disaster-recovery plan is a method of restoring information processing operations that have been halted by destruction or accident. It includes a list of all business functions and all elements 5hardware, software, data, people6 that support those functions. In addition, a good plan includes arrangements for an alternative location for the computer center.