Table of Contents

Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 1

What is Computer ethics?..................................................................................................... 2

1. Intellectual Property......................................................................................................... 2How are Copyright materials violated?.....................................................................................3Solution................................................................................................................................................. 4Challenges............................................................................................................................................ 4

2. Invasion of Privacy............................................................................................................. 5How is Privacy Violated?................................................................................................................. 6Solution................................................................................................................................................. 7Challenges............................................................................................................................................ 8

3. Computer Reliability.......................................................................................................... 8Solution................................................................................................................................................. 9Challenges......................................................................................................................................... 10

4. Internet Fraud................................................................................................................... 10How are innocent computer users defrauded?....................................................................12Solution.............................................................................................................................................. 13Challenges......................................................................................................................................... 13

5. Computer Attack............................................................................................................... 13Who are the computer criminals?.............................................................................................14Solution.............................................................................................................................................. 15Challenge........................................................................................................................................... 16

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................... 16

REFRENCES.............................................................................................................................. 17

This report is written by Akinbayode Olaoluwa Ebenezer.

Introduction

The introduction of Information Technology and development of high-tech

equipment has brought both good and bad fortunes to the human race.

This report explains the notion that the computer systems contribute a

considerable amount of problems of some of the major ethical problems of our

society.

The subjects discussed in this report include violation of intellectual property

rights, invasion of privacy, computer reliability, internet fraud and computer

attack.

Solutions to tackle the problems and challenges faced are also discussed in this

report.

What is Computer ethics?Computer ethics can simply be defined as set of moral principles that regulate

the use of computers. It is a part of practical philosophy, which deals with how

computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and

social conduct.

Below are five types of ethics issue, which I will be doing a literature review on. These ethic issues are issues that occurs in our real world –:

1). Intellectual Property2). Invasion of Privacy3). Computer Reliability4). Internet Fraud5). Computer Attack

1. Intellectual Property

Intellectual property can be defined as an intangible property or invention that is

the result of creativity such as inventions, images, literary or a design, to which

the individual has rights and for which he/she may apply for a patent or copyright

protection.

Intellectual property has two parts and they are: - Tangible objects/creativity,

which requires bodily skills, and intangible materials/creativity, which demand

mind skills.

While physical property can be defended by the current legislation, intangible

intellectual property is non-exclusive, which makes it very difficult to protect. This

is because many people can use intangible intellectual materials as many time,

as they want without limitations. Computer software and digital materials such as

e-books, apps, digital music and movies are examples of intangible products that

are threatened by intellectual property violations.

How are Copyright materials violated?

Unfortunately, the fast development of information technology has contributed

negatively in the violation of intellectual property rights. These developments

include, large media storage, increased transmission speed of digital content

through computer networks, and interoperability of media, which allows easy

sharing, modification and conversion. With the use of newer technologies,

copyrighted materials are violated in the following manner –

Software piracy: Thousands of apps, songs and video content are illegally

downloaded over the Internet, burnt into CDs/DVDs and sold to millions of people

on a large scale without the permission of the creator. This is very popular in

countries that have laxed law on property protection.

Copyright material may also be violated if the material or its content is changed or

modified without permission.

Illegal Upload/Download: The work is also violated if its material is illegally

downloaded, digitized and uploaded onto the Internet without creator’s

permission (e.g. Pirate Bay, Extra Torrent).

Plagiarized content. For example, downloading and copying of information without

author’s permission. This is common among college students, whereby they copy

people’s work on the Internet and use it as their own without author’s consent.

The real danger and effect of illegal distribution and digitizing of original creations

is that the company or individual may face serious financial problems.

Solution

In order to stop intellectual property abuse, the following actions must be taken: -

1.) Author or inventor must clearly state the purpose for which and how their work

should be used. (Weather its free, premium, for education or corporate use.)

2.) Intellectual property owners should adopt the use of watermarks on all their

works and materials.

3.) For preview purposes, they should upload read-only formats of their works

online with strong copyright protection tool, which disables copying, or printing.

4.) They can also protect their works by notifying intellectual property

organizations (e.g. WIPO) of their works. The job of these organizations is to

promote and protect the use of intellectual properties.

5.) Lastly, Government should enact a law to protect intellectual properties. And

people should be made aware of the fine and danger of using illegal materials.

Challenges

The main challenge is that people tends to go for cheaper materials, even when

they know that they are breaking the law. For example, in the case of CD piracy,

people prefer the pirated CD because it’s cheaper than the original one. This

makes it a bit challenging for the solution to work. But I believe with proper law

and awareness campaign, intellectual property violation will reduce.

2. Invasion of Privacy

Invasion of Privacy is one of the core issues of computer ethics because people

are worried about losing their right of privacy such as freedom, solitude,

anonymity, intimacy and right to control their personal information.

We are now living in a modern computerized world whereby information has

become a valuable commodity. Let me give two examples in which information

has become a very powerful tool.

In some corporations (e.g. marketing company, social media platform, email and

webhosting providers, etc.), for them, information is money and because of this,

they sell and buy information collected from various users.

While for some security forces and other arms of government (e.g NSA, State

Security services, Malaysia's Secret Service etc.), information is security and

because of this, they control and use personal data collected from various

sources of database in the name of public security and protection.

In these two citied cases which I’ve given, individuals and groups do not at most

times have the ability to control the flow of their own personal information (such

as name, age, sex, race, address, telephone number, email address, medical

record, employer information, location etc.) and therefore can not determine for

themselves how, when and which personal information should be released or

shared with other third parties. Even in some cases, personal information of

individual are maintained, shared and sold without their permission.

The issue of privacy invasion is becoming alarming these days as many

sophisticated technologies are being used as surveillance tools. Below are some

ways in which privacy are violated in our real world.

How is Privacy Violated?

Information Abuse: For financial gain, some organizations use collected customer

data illegally for unauthorized purpose without their formal knowledge.

Intrusion: It is an illegal act of entering or acquiring possession of someone else's

property (e.g hacking an innocent user’s name and changing their password). My

email has once been hacked and password stolen and I have never been able to

recover it till date. My privacy was violated.

Interception of information: Eavesdropping is a very common problem on the

Internet whereby hackers or third parties have unauthorized access to private

information and communication through the use of software applications.

Data Matching: Security departments are now equipped with far more

sophisticated technologies that they can detect almost anything. They use data

matching to compare two or more unrelated database to produce new

information. By using data matching method to gather statistical information,

issues like computer profiling occurs. For example, there was a story in the news

about TSA; an organization responsible for airport security in the USA, that they

detained a five years old boy because his name matches with a wanted terrorist.

Data Mining: It involves the process of compiling masses of data into one or more

databases in order to extract new information. Mostly used by marketing

companies to send advertisements, which individuals do not request for.

Computer and network surveillance: Many company websites, membership and e-

commerce websites in particular tracks user's activity with the use of cookies

without the knowledge of the user. A cookies is a small piece of data sent from a

website and stored on the visitor's hard disks to gather information about their

activities and preferences. While in some other cases, governments,

corporations and criminals have used malicious tools to monitor computer users.

Phone Surveillance: At this age, almost anything can be hacked. If tampered with

by professional criminals or security departments, smart devices may be used to

record videos, transfer files and capture pictures of individuals without the

knowledge and permission of the user.

Solution

According to some great philosophers, violating the right of privacy violates the

person. So in order to protect our personal information from being invaded, what

should we (the people) or government be forced to do?

1.) Individuals must be very careful and limit information given out via Internet,

paper or other electronic format. Should they wish to release some of their

personal information to an organization, they must understand what information

is collected about them, purpose, security safeguards and how will it be used.

2). In the case of Internet, individuals should refrain from posting personal

information of themselves on social media platforms/forums. If they wish to send

any important information over the Internet, an encryption tool should be used.

3.) Individuals and corporate entities should install personal firewalls and

antivirus on their computer systems.

4.) I also believe that Privacy is a fundamental human right, which must be

protected by law. Therefore, a legislation (e.g. Data Protection Act) must be

enacted by the government to protect personal data of people from illegal use.

ChallengesSome people, especially men of the security forces, believe that privacy in form

of anonymity is harmful to our social stability because it protects the guilty ones

and covers their criminal deception. They believe that if you are not a criminal,

then what do you have to hide?

On one hand, there is a threat to personal privacy and at the other hand; there is

a threat to people’s safety and security. These strong arguments are the

challenges faced in social perspectives when it comes to privacy protection but I

believe with a balancing legislation act, the issue of privacy invasion and

criminals hiding under the form of anonymity will reduce.

3. Computer Reliability

Computer reliability can be defined as the ability of a computer machine (either

hardware or software) to deliver its required functions for a given period of time. It

can also be defined as the responsibilities and corporate standards of behavior

expected of computer professionals

We all understand that computer and IT is very crucial in our day-to-day activities

ranging from business efficiency, education, and security e.t.c. Hence, computer

reliability is important because it gives us confidence in computer systems.

A computer system becomes unreliable when it starts to present unwanted

malfunctions or when the program does not meet the user’s expectations. These

computer problems arise from lack of inadequate testing, poor design,

incomplete coverage of all the necessary materials needed to build the system in

order to minimize cost of development or due to professional negligence.

Let me give a proper example on computer unreliability. When an individual goes

to a store to purchase a new notebook. Upon sighting a beautiful laptop and

reading its box description showing that the laptop is 10 hours of battery life, duo

core processor with less heat, the individual purchased the item. Couple of

weeks later, the individual realizes that the laptop can only go for 3 hours of

battery life, with unbearable heat; this is an example of computer unreliability.

Solution

1.) A licensing board regulating computer production should be initiated. The

board should decide on what standard should be manufactured or developed.

2.) There must be a well-designed legislation biding manufacturers and

developers in charge of system developments to a certain standard. (e.g rules,

regulations and warranties). Any professional who fails honor the law should be

penalized.

3.) A consumer group that protects people from corporate abuse and unsafe

products should be initiated.

Challenges

Some of the challenges faced is that, end-users tend not to use software or

product correctly, thereby passing the blame to developers and manufactures

that, the product is not well designed.

Another challenge is that when a product fails a consumer, they do not know

which authority to report the problem to. With proper awareness, I believe this will

give consumer the confidence and information they need.

4. Internet Fraud

Internet fraud can be defined as any illegal act for which Internet services or

software with Internet access is used to commit a fraud, result in financial gain.

Internet fraud can occur in message boards, email, chat rooms, or on websites.

The development of new technology platforms (such as online shopping, online

banking, e-payment and others) to ease our day-to-day activities, has also

created new potentials for theft and exposes companies and consumers to

financial risk. For example, there was news of an Australian woman who lost

over $80,000 to a romance scam.

Internet fraud cases has become so rampant nowadays that it is becoming

difficult for people to trust anything that has to do with the Internet as fraudsters

are constantly exploring and developing new methods to steal money from

innocent computer users. According to Kros Global Fraud report, millions of

dollars are lost yearly to computer fraudsters.

Below are some common techniques which fraudsters use in stealing computer

user information: -

Spamming: This is an act by which fraudsters use electronic messaging systems

to send unsolicited bulk messages (spam)

Spyware Application: is a software that gathers information about a person or

organization without their knowledge and send those data to another entity.

Keyloggers: It secretly captures and records actions of key struck pressed on a

keyboard and send those information to the fraudster.

Phishing and spoofing: It is an illegal act of attempting to acquire sensitive

information such as credit card details, usernames and passwords (and

sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an

electronic communication.

How are innocent computer users defrauded?

Employment search overpayment scam: As usual, fraudsters send random emails

to different email users offering them a job to become a financial representative

of an oversea organization. The individual might think this is real but

unfortunately, the intention of the fraudster is to acquire the individual sensitive

information (such as SSN, bank information etc.) for other purpose.

Disaster relief scams: Fraudsters sometime takes advantage when disasters or

tragic events occur where people die or lost everything they have. In times like

these, good and nice people come together to help the victims in any way they

can, including via online donations. During this period, fraudsters set up fake

charity organization websites and steal the money donated to the victims.

Romance scam: is a dating scam involving feigned romantic intentions towards a

victim, gaining their affection, and then using that goodwill to commit fraud.

Advance fee fraud: is a very common Internet crime causing Internet users to lose

significant amounts of money. This is how it works, fraudster tries to convince a

victim that the victim has been selected for a business deal with easy money to

be gained and the only condition to obtain the gain is that the victim has to pay a

small amount of money in advance. Once the victim pays, the fraudster keeps

requesting for more and more money without fulfilling any business deal.

Solution

1.) Government should start massive campaign awareness on Internet fraud in

order to educate computer users.

2.) Computer users should install antivirus, antimalware, email filtering, web

filtering software on their computers.

3.) Individuals should not respond to unsolicited email offers or accept payment

from individuals they did not purchase from.

4.) In order to guard your personal information, don’t give out your credit card

details online unless the site is a secure and reputable. Before you use the site,

check out the security and the encryption software it uses.

ChallengesThe main challenge is that some victims decides not to report internet crimes

because they have little to benefit from it, while some are frustrated with the

expensive prosecutions, time consuming investigations and light sentences.

Also without help from the authorities or family members, some victims would

continue communicating with the fraudsters hoping that they can correct the

issue but unfortunately they end up getting more conned.

5. Computer Attack

Computer attack can be defined as an attempt by computer criminals to destroy,

expose, disable, alter, steal or gain unauthorized access to computer network or

device.

The development of information technology and the spread of personal computer

and computer networks bring forth new ability for crime and illegal activities. The

centralization of data via network databases gives new opportunities to computer

criminals to access unauthorized computer materials, manipulate data and steal

information easily and quickly.

Who are the computer criminals?

Computer criminals (sometimes called hackers) can be regarded as ambitious

people with impressive educational credentials or technical skills who regard

themselves as heroes. The targets and motivations of computer criminals are not

different from motivations of ordinary criminals. And because computer attack

involves little physical danger for the computer criminal, has low risk of detection

and can appear to be more like a game than a crime of the traditional kind,

hence, most computer crimes are considered victimless crimes with no serious

consequences. But the actual fact is that, computer attacks can cause financial

and managerial problems to companies and businesses.

Below are some ways in which computers are attacked.

Virus: is a malware or worm software application that replicates by inserting

copies of itself into other computer programs or data files.

Password guessing/attack: Password attack is process by which hackers try to

recover passwords from data that have been transmitted or store on a computer.

One common method is a brute-force attack.

Spyware: is an software application that gathers computer activity and

information about a person or organization illegally without their knowledge and

send those gathered information to hackers.

Denial-of-service attack: Denial-of-service attack is a network attack designed to

bring the network to its knees by flooding the network with useless heavy traffic.

Examples of those attacks include Ping of Death and Teardrop attacks which

exploit limitations in network protocols

SolutionBelow are the solutions I propose to solve these kinds of attacks –

1.) Internet providers and big companies should establish security measures

such as anti virus systems, filtering anti-spam software, firewalls and encryption

devices that protects data transmitted.

2.) Internet users should also be encouraged to install personal firewalls and

antivirus on their computers to block attacks. If they believe their system has

been hacked or attacked, they should look for a professional technical help who

will help them to resolve the issue.

3.) In addition, Government should create a new legislation, dedicated to tackle

crimes computer crimes

Challenge

There are several reasons why computer attack may be a challenge. First, some

computer crimes can be very difficult to detect.

Second, some victims decided not to report computer crimes because they have

little to benefit from reporting computer crimes, while some are frustrated with the

expensive prosecutions, time consuming investigations and light sentences.

And finally, some companies cover up computer crimes for publicity fear. It is bad

publicity for a business company to admit that its security system does not work

efficiently or that some company insiders have stolen money or information. All

these make it difficult for the solutions to work.

CONCLUSION

The more IT development advances, the more it will create new potential for

computer criminals but the risks can be managed with proper law, causion and

awareness.

In conclusion, I do not believe that computers can be completely neutralized from

being used for criminal purposes.

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