Every society much make decisions on how to handle crime. In most cultures a judicial system is established. The difficulty with computer crime is it extends country boundaries and is also a topic that is subject to heavy political debate. The first issue is that of finding criminal activity. The easiest method would be a big brother approach were every computer connected to a network would be monitored for illegal activity. This could also be done in a networked approach, where each Internet Service Provider (ISP) would watch their own users and the report potentially criminal behavior to authorities. In the United State, the FBI is trying to standardize this process through their Carnivoire project. The ethical dilemma is that these monitoring techniques invade personal privacy while on the Internet. A system should be established that will allow people there right to privacy and free assembly while dampening the amount of criminal activity that exists today on the Internet.
In this era of computer “viruses” and international spying by “hackers” who are thousands of miles away, it is clear that computer security is a topic of concern in the field of Computer Ethics. The problem is not so much the physical security of the hardware (protecting it from theft, fire, flood, etc.), but rather “logical security”, which Spafford, Heaphy and Ferbrache divide into five aspects:
Privacy and confidentiality
Integrity — assuring that data and programs are not modified without proper authority
Unimpaired service
Consistency — ensuring that the data and behavior we see today will be the same tomorrow
Controlling access to resources
Malicious kinds of software, or “programmed threats”, provide a significant challenge to computer security. These include “viruses”, which cannot run on their own, but rather are inserted into other computer programs; “worms” which can move from machine to machine across networks, and may have parts of themselves running on different machines; “Trojan horses” which appear to be one sort of program, but actually are doing damage behind the scenes; “logic bombs” which check for particular conditions and then execute when those conditions arise; and “bacteria” or “rabbits” which multiply rapidly and fill up the computer's memory.
Computer crimes, such as embezzlement or planting of logic bombs, are normally committed by trusted personnel who have permission to use the computer system. Computer security, therefore, must also be concerned with the actions of trusted computer users.
Another major risk to computer security is the so-called “hacker” who breaks into someone's computer system without permission. Some hackers intentionally steal data or commit vandalism, while others merely “explore” the system to see how it works and what files it contains. These “explorers” often claim to be benevolent defenders of freedom and fighters against rip-offs by major corporations or spying by government agents. These self-appointed vigilantes of cyberspace say they do no harm, and claim to be helpful to society by exposing security risks. However every act of hacking is harmful, because any known successful penetration of a computer system requires the owner to thoroughly check for damaged or lost data and programs. Even if the hacker did indeed make no changes, the computer's owner must run through a costly and time-consuming investigation of the compromised system.
Types of Computer Crime
Typically, computer crime can be categorized by the type of activity which occurs. Four basic categories are utilized in describing computer crime. These are: theft, fraud, copyright infringement, and attacks.
1. Theft. Theft in computer crime may refer to either unauthorized removal of physical items such as hardware or unauthorized removal or copying of data or information. It is well known that laptop computers are targeted at airports and restaurants. The prize garnered with theft of a laptop is usually the data or information such as passwords for corporate systems contained on the laptops rather than the hardware.
2. Fraud. Fraud on the Internet may run the gamut from credit card offers which are utilized only
to capture personal information, to investor postings which promote a stock or investment offer
to encourage investment which will benefit the person posting the information, to medical and
pharmaceutical -related sites which purport to provide correct medical advice or sell altered
medications.
3. Copyright infringement. The Internet has provided a unique opportunity and environment for copyright infringement. This type of computer crime encompasses use of software, music, etc which is not appropriately acquired ( purchased). Software piracy occurs more easily with the ability to post files for downloading all over the world. However, another more costly copyright infringement occurs when trademarks and logos of corporations are posted on non-authorized web sites. Some criminals utilize the trademarks and logos to appear to be a legitimate site to perpetrate fraud. Many corporations have employees or consulting contractors who constantly crawl the web to sniff out illegal usage of trademarks and logos.
4. Attacks on organizations and individuals. Attacks on organizational information systems may be either physical or logical. There are several instances of web sites, products, and individuals
being libeled or attacked by individuals or groups. One of the classic examples was the attack on Proctor and Gamble as an occult organization. AOL and other ISPs cooperate fully with criminal justice systems to reveal identities of those deploying web sites of question.
Denial of Service Attacks (DoS) target specific web sites and associated servers. Some of the newsworthy examples of DoS during 2000 - 2001 have occurred at Microsoft.com, eBay.com, and Amazon.com. Web servers and connections can only handle so much traffic so Denial of Service (DoS) usually take the form of one of two ways:
- Coordinated attack (typically from unsuspecting desktops) to a particular IP address or
URL requesting a page - overwhelms server and DoS occurs
- Attack sends incomplete packets so that traffic gets jammed with requests for re-send.
In this era of computer "viruses" and international spying by "hackers" who are thousands of miles away, it is clear that computer security is a topic of concern in the field of Computer Ethics. The problem is not so much the physical security of the hardware (protecting it from theft, fire, flood, etc.), but rather "logical security", which Spafford, Heaphy and Ferbrache divide into five aspects:
1. Privacy and confidentiality
2. Integrity -- assuring that data and programs are not modified without proper
authority
3. Unimpaired service
4. Consistency -- ensuring that the data and behavior we see today will be the same
tomorrow
5. Controlling access to resources
Malicious kinds of software, or "programmed threats", provide a significant challenge to computer security. These include "
viruses", which cannot run on their own, but rather are inserted into other computer programs; "worms" which can move from machine to machine across networks, and may have parts of themselves running on different machines; "Trojan horses" which appear to be one sort of program, but actually are doing damage behind the scenes; "logic bombs" which check for particular conditions and then execute when those conditions arise; and "bacteria" or "rabbits" which multiply rapidly and fill up the computer's memory.
MALWARE
There are several classes of activities which may also harm information systems and supporting technology. These activities may result in criminal charges depending upon the circumstances and impact on information systems. Currently, these activities fall within classes of viruses, worms, Trojan Horse, time bomb, logic bomb, and trapdoors.
1. Viruses. A virus is a program with intent to harm or render a computer system useless. The virus method of attack is to attach itself to specific files such as data files. It is not a free standing program. It copies itself when the infected file is executed.
A virus can damage data, delete files, erase your hard drive, or just cause annoying screen displays or sounds. Viruses may hide within macros of Word or Excel documents. Some viruses are programmed to trigger execution on a particular date or time. Viruses do not cause hardware damage. Viruses spread from file to file. There are thousands of documented viruses!!!! Some recent examples of viruses include the Melissa, Chernobyl, and Michelangelo.
Most virus protection software provides monthly updates to ensure that the computer system is covered from recent virus discoveries. Two of the more popular versions of virus protection include Norton (Symantec) and McAfee.
2. Worms. Worms are another destructive program designed to create instability information systems and supporting technology. Worms differ from viruses in that a worm is a free standing program. A worm executes on its own functionality. Worms spread from computer system to computer system rather than from file to file.
Examples of notorious worms include the July and August, 2001 attack of CODE RED on IIS servers. IIS (Internet Information Services) is part of the Microsoft Windows Server operating system which provides internet connectivity. Servers including federal government web sites, Qwest DSL servers, and other corporate or governmental sites were hit.
A worm can reply to e-mails while attaching itself to the e-mail; can destroy File Allocation System (FAT) on Windows systems and other similar attacks on other files systems on hard drives. Because worms are free standing, they can spread on their own and do not require human intervention to spread. Thus, in some ways, worms are more lethal than viruses.
3. Trojan Horse. This software derives its name from the Greek mythology depicting war activity between the Greeks and Trojans of Troy. The Greeks pretended to depart the besieged Troy but left behind a giant wooden horse as a “gift”. The Trojans brought the horse within the gates of Troy and Greek warriors were hidden in the horse. The Greek warriors then captured Troy. Therefore, the Trojan Horse appears to have one function but in reality does something else.
Typically, a Trojan Horse performs something destructive while the person at the keyboard thinks they are downloading an animation or some other file. The Trojan Horse commonly either loads a software program to be utilized in a later Denial of Service attack or reads your passwords, credit card numbers, etc., saved within your system. This vital information is later used to make purchases or other criminal activities.
In August of 2001, a particularly damaging Trojan Horse named the Trojan Offensive has been reported. It damages the Registry of Windows operating system so that the system is trashed. (More on the Registry under Operating Systems.)
4. Time bomb. These are software attacks that are designed to occur at a predetermined time or
date. The difference between a time bomb and a virus such as the Michelangelo is that technically the time bomb does not spread. It impacts on the system upon which it has been loaded.
5. Logic bomb. Logic bombs are software attacks that triggered by a predetermined event. The most common logic bombs occur when information technology employees are laid off from employment. Then, for example, billing systems go awry when an employee id number is no longer on the payroll database.
6. Trapdoor. Trapdoors are system entrances that circumvents security system. These are hidden logins or administrative user definitions added by system developers for unscrupulous reasons. Trapdoors allow an unauthorized or unknown user to control a computer system. Trapdoors are typically only aimed at servers or mainframe corporate systems.
Unauthorized Access/ Information privacy
The relationship between collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, and the legal and political issues surrounding them.
A computer hobbyist is someone who enjoys pushing his or her computer skills to the limit. And sometimes that means trying to get past the security precautions that prevent unauthorized access to computer systems. In all the states of the U.S., unauthorized computer access is a crime.
The term hacker was originally coined to refer to computer users who experimented with computer programs to test their limits. When some of these users began to experiment with illegally accessing systems, the news
media used the term hacker to mean people who attempt to gain unauthorized access to computer systems.
The term cracker has been proposed to refer to this computer criminal, with hacker applied to the ethical
computer user.
Some crackers have argued that breaking into a company's database to prove that it is vulnerable is a
legitimate behavior. When the behavior is evaluated with the ethical principle of not doing what you would not
want everyone else to do, unauthorized access is difficult to justify. True, a company may want to test its
security against crackers. A computer security company, such as the one depicted in the movie Sneakers,
can provide the test.
Crackers may persist in their behavior out of the belief that no one is being hurt. That thought is small
consolation to the people who are trying to store confidential or sensitive information on a computer system.
A cracker who alters or vandalizes key data in a hospital records system may endanger lives. Whether or not harm is done, cracking is wrong because it violates the ethical principle of respecting the privacy of others.
Public and Private Networks(Pornography)
Pornography or porn is the portrayal of explicit sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual excitement and erotic satisfaction. It is rampant within society. It is an epidemic that is damaging the lives of young people, destroying marriages, producing false views of sex and beauty, and degrading women. The pornography industry has increased rapidly, and its increased availability has weakened moral and public standards that have traditionally stood opposed to pornography. The combination of the weakening moral standard and the increased availability has caused its effects to become even more widespread, making proper teaching about pornography a necessity.
According to Family Safe Media, pornography is a $57 billion world-wide industry, including $12 billion in the United States alone. According to their statistics, pornography revenue exceeds the combined revenues of all professional baseball, football, and basketball franchises and the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC. Family Safe Media also reports that there are over 4.2 million pornographic websites, which include over 373 million pornographic web pages. The average email user receives 4.5 pornographic emails each day, and the average age of first exposure to Internet pornography is 11 years old. While pornography is typically only associated with men, a significant portion of Internet pornography users are female. Family Safe Media reports that 72% of Internet pornography viewers are men and 28% of viewers are female.
As can be seen from these statistics, pornography is a large problem within society, and Christians are not immune from this problem. Approximately 47% of Christians state that pornography is a major problem in their home. While polling data on pornography use among adults are unclear and varying, a ChristiaNet poll finds that as many as 50% of Christian men and 20% Christian women could be addicted to pornography.
The growth of technology has also increased the devastating growth of child pornography. Jan LaRue states that a search of “teen porn” on the Internet can produce upwards of 7-8 million results. Family Safe Media reports that child pornography generates $3 billion annually.
Pornography has become extremely accessible through technological innovations and is now virtually a mainstream form of entertainment within American culture that is willing to accept hyper-sexualized images and lewd behavior. A survey by The Barna Group in 2003 found that nationally 38% of adults believed there was nothing immoral about looking at pornography, and the same survey found that almost 50% of people ages 18-38 believed looking at pornography was not immoral.
The combination of technical innovations that allow what was once a small, remote, seedy market to be mass produced and accessed within the most common of places (foremost being the home), the devaluation of sex from being a sacred union to an entertaining action of lust and selfish pleasure, and the mainstream cultural acceptance of sexual freedom have all contributed to the explosion of the pornography market. The Internet, cable television, and home videos are the vehicles that have transported the effects of the underlying moral and cultural changes in American society. These media outlets have allowed pornography to be distributed more widely throughout society, but increased technology alone is not the cause of the rapid increase in pornography. The changes in the morality of sex, entertainment, and modesty, in conjunction with technological transformation of media in American society, have conjoined to create a dangerous atmosphere where pornography is widespread and often accepted.
With the growth of online information services such as CompuServe and America Online, public networks
such as the Internet, and bulletin board systems, the question of appropriate material for posting online has
become an issue. The most volatile issue is pornography, now often called cyberporn. The question is whether adults have the right to publish pornography on these online systems where minors can get to it. The biggest problem area is the Internet. Services like CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online have established guidelines for their users and have the means to enforce those limits. The Internet, however, was designed to have no single authority and has no capability for enforcing rules or standards.
The fact that the Internet is an international network adds to the complexity. People from countries with stricter codes will be at the mercy of people from countries with more lax codes, as long as no method exists to restrict material from the network. To many people, the strength of the Internet is its open forum -- the fact that it cannot be censored.
Currently, the best way for parents to protect their children from cyberporn and for individuals to avoid material they do not choose to see is to control access in the home. Simply avoid the places on the Internet where cyberporn is located. One tool to aid in this effort is PICS, or Platform for Internet Content Selection, a voluntary ratings system that is widely endorsed by companies contributing to the Internet. A second tool is filtering software available at many software outlets. Some packages are Cyber Patrol, CYBERsitter, The Internet Filter, SurfWatch, Net Nanny, and WebTrack. Purchasing, installing, and registering these packages entitle you to frequently updated lists of sites to be avoided.
Software Ownership and Intellectual Property
The challenge for both of these is to keep from equating them to physical ownership and property. Software is not the same as a physical device. It does provide value to a company, but it is only a collection of bits. The other major factor is that software is usually based upon prior work by another author. In very rare cases is a piece of software completely generated by a single company. When standing on the shoulders of giants, it is only right to give back to the giants. One excellent method is Open Source software. Under that paradigm any work derived from great intellectuals and companies must also be made available to that company. This way the naturally software ancestry awards the most innovative and allows others to derive a benefit at less cost.
On Intellectual Property. Intellectual property should, whenever possible, be shared. Each person only lives once, yet humanity continues to live on. Rather than focusing on the temporary benefits of selling inventions at absurd prices, intellectual findings should be shared so that new ideas can be created and intellectual progress can be enhanced. Today’s technology that is used for top secret tasks should not become tomorrow’s life saving technology, but today’s. The ethical dilemma is that intellectual property should not be a selfish concern for temporary profit, but rather towards maximizing the benefit of new knowledge to society
One of the more controversial areas of computer ethics concerns the intellectual property rights connected with software ownership. Some people, like Richard Stallman who started the Free Software Foundation, believe that software ownership should not be allowed at all. He claims that all information should be free, and all programs should be available for copying, studying and modifying by anyone who wishes to do so. Others argue that software companies or programmers would not invest weeks and months of work and significant funds in the development of software if they could not get the investment back in the form of license fees or sales. Today's software industry is a multi-billion dollar part of the economy; and software companies claim to lose billions of dollars per year through illegal copying ("software piracy"). Many people think that software should be own-able, but "casual copying" of personally owned programs for one's friends should also be permitted. The software industry claims that millions of dollars in sales are lost because of such copying. Ownership is a complex matter, since there are several different aspects of software that can be owned and three different types of ownership: copyrights, trade secrets, and patents.
For computer users, one of the most pressing ethical issues concerns the duplication of computer programs. Some programs are offered free to anyone. This software is said to be in the public domain, and you can legally copy public domain software. The software is free because the person who created it chose to make it available free to everyone.Another type of software is called shareware. Shareware has been copyrighted, and the creator offers it to
anyone to copy and try out. In return, the creator asks the user to register and pay for the software if he or
she continues using it. Some shareware providers then send software upgrades and corrections to
registered users.Most software, however, is copyrighted software, legally protected against copying or being used without paying for it. Software piracy involves making illegal copies of copyrighted software. Software piracy is a felony offense.One can own the following aspects of a program:
1. The "source code" which is written by the programmer(s) in a high-level
computer language like Java or C++.
2. The "object code", which is a machine-language translation of the source code.
3. The "algorithm", which is the sequence of machine commands that the source
code and object code represent.
4. The "look and feel" of a program, which is the way the program appears on the screen and interfaces with users.
A very controversial issue today is owning a patent on a computer algorithm. A patent provides an exclusive monopoly on the use of the patented item, so the owner of an algorithm can deny others use of the mathematical formulas that are part of the algorithm.Mathematicians and scientists are outraged, claiming that algorithm patents effectively remove parts of mathematics from the public domain, and thereby threaten to cripple science. In addition, running a preliminary "patent search" to make sure that your "new" program does not violate anyone's software patent is a costly and time-consuming process. As a result, only very large companies with big budgets can afford to run such a search. This effectively eliminates many small software companies, stifling competition and decreasing the variety of programs available to the society.
Computer Security
Security in general both gives and takes away freedoms. It gives freedoms to the person doing the locking, by reducing their chances of being hurt, but at the same time reduces the ability for rightful access. By putting locks on every door, every computer, and even electronic media (DVDs, E-Books, etc.) an environment of distrust is caused on both sides. Those who are trying to keep something secured are looked on poorly by others as lacking trust in others, while they themselves are trying to protect their investments and information. In the end it becomes an expensive race between those who spend time circumscribing security measures and those who try to make them more secure. Security is only required in an environment where there is a large amount of disrespect between those who have something to protect and those who wish to gain that information. Computer security is not a puzzle that will be solved by computers, but rather by agreed upon and respectable behavior on both sides.
Computer addiction
Computer addiction refers to the excessive amounts of time spent on the computer. The preoccupation can cause problems with relationships and even with work performance. The time spent on the computer does not refer to work-related activities.
The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Computer addiction includes the 12 symptoms listed below:
1. Anxiety if access to computer denied
2. Persistent need to spend excessive amount of time on the computer
3. Neglecting other duties in order to spend time on the computer
4. Forgoing social activities in order to spend time on the computer
5. Neglecting family relationships in order to spend time on the computer
6. Compulsive need to spend time on the computer
7. Feeling empty when not at the computer
8. Feeling irritable when not at the computer
9. Feeling depressed when not at the computer
10. Lying to other people about amount of time spent on the computer
11. Social isolation
12. Withdrawing from other pleasurable activities
The Role of Government
Government has been tasked throughout time as the arbitrator of ethics. Governments are often required to rule between ethical and unethical behavior. These rulings are not subjective. It is therefore requisite that governments spend the time to understand computer and Internet technologies so that they are better enable to resolve issues of legality. Decisions made now by the government will have a lasting impact on the future of technology and the freedoms people and organizations have in using that technology.
Social Behavior
Ethics are both designed for controlling social behavior and designed from existing social behavior. Creating a good ethical policy for social use of technology does not bread good use of that technology, but rather good use of technology breads good ethics. Ethical policy makers should therefore look at the effects of technology on society and make choices to maximize the benefits of that technology and minimize the negative effects.
The Digital Divide
Taking care of the underprivileged has always been a struggling point for ethical policy. It is hard for some to make the decision of helping others catch up ethically appealing. It often scares people and governments to reduce the intellectual and technical gap between them. This gap becomes comfortable for the “haves,” since they will not have to worry about the “have-nots” revolting or taking over their higher positions in society. Another point of view is more positive, by making the choice to help others learn about technology they will become more productive and in the end everyone benefits.
Computer Enhanced Education
Similar to the ethical issues with the Digital Divide, computer enhanced education also should be designed to increase the educational opportunities that people can participate in. The Internet is mostly a pool of information that can be tapped for knowledge in almost any topic. Ethics in regard to computer enhanced education is to make reasonable decisions that protect people from misinformation and politically slanted information. Today to get the whole story it must be looked at from many different points of view. Bias is a killer of truth. Online content is filled with bias that could be potentially harmful for teaching correct information.
Computers and the Workplace
Employee rights are of utmost importance in the workplace. These rights are being diminished as eavesdropping technology becomes available to employers. Current law allows companies to monitor the use of their equipment at a level not allowed anywhere else, even in government surveillance. People are losing their jobs as a result of jokes that they sent to co-employees or what they view while online. While the utility of such things can be questions in respect to overall productivity, the basic right of privacy should also be maintained in the workplace.
As a “universal tool” that can, in principle, perform almost any task, computers obviously pose a threat to jobs. Although they occasionally need repair, computers don't require sleep, they don't get tired, they don't go home ill or take time off for rest and relaxation. At the same time, computers are often far more efficient than humans in performing many tasks. Therefore, economic incentives to replace humans with computerized devices are very high. Indeed, in the industrialized world many workers already have been replaced by computerized devices — bank tellers, auto workers, telephone operators, typists, graphic artists, security guards, assembly-line workers, and on and on. In addition, even professionals like medical doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants and psychologists are finding that computers can perform many of their traditional professional duties quite effectively.
The employment outlook, however, is not all bad. Consider, for example, the fact that the computer industry already has generated a wide variety of new jobs: hardware engineers, software engineers, systems analysts, webmasters, information technology teachers, computer sales clerks, and so on. Thus it appears that, in the short run, computer-generated unemployment will be an important social problem; but in the long run, information technology will create many more jobs than it eliminates.
Even when a job is not eliminated by computers, it can be radically altered. For example, airline pilots still sit at the controls of commercial airplanes; but during much of a flight the pilot simply watches as a computer flies the plane. Similarly, those who prepare food in restaurants or make products in factories may still have jobs; but often they simply push buttons and watch as computerized devices actually perform the needed tasks. In this way, it is possible for computers to cause “de-skilling” of workers, turning them into passive observers and button pushers. Again, however, the picture is not all bad because computers also have generated new jobs which require new sophisticated skills to perform — for example, “computer assisted drafting” and “keyhole” surgery.
Another workplace issue concerns health and safety. As Forester and Morrison point out, when information technology is introduced into a workplace, it is important to consider likely impacts upon health and job satisfaction of workers who will use it. It is possible, for example, that such workers will feel stressed trying to keep up with high-speed computerized devices — or they may be injured by repeating the same physical movement over and over — or their health may be threatened by radiation emanating from computer monitors. These are just a few of the social and ethical issues that arise when information technology is introduced into the workplace.
The Future of Technology
Where is all this going? A couple weeks ago I attended a seminar on database redundancy at Lehigh sponsored by a couple student organizations. During this presentation, a rather distressing observation was made by the presenter. The presenter said by looking at the investments and funding of technology people are more concerned with their money than their health. There is no where near the desire for redundancy in computer technology that a person relies on for very life, than for that of making sure an ATM transaction goes through. It would be much better to concentrate on making sure technology improves human life over keeping the rich, rich, for the even the rich should be concerned about their quality of life and health more than their pocket books. If not, then that problem needs to solved first, before worrying about the future of ethics as it relates to technology.
