Hectic EthicsComputer Applications

Mrs. Wohleb

Objectives Students will be able to:

Describe ethical considerations resulting from technological advances

Hacking Privacy Restricted Sites Copyright Spreading Viruses Consequences Misuse of Technology Reliability of electronic information Netiquette

Hacking Unauthorized use of computer and network

resources "hacker" originally meant a very gifted

programmer Hacking is a felony in the United States

and most other countries

Ethical Hacking Ethical hacking is the methodology adopted

by ethical hackers to discover the vulnerabilities existing in information systems operating environments

Ethical hackers typically employ the same tools and techniques as criminal attackers, but they neither damage the target systems nor steal information

How Private is Your Information Unsolicited email is not regulated by federal

law at present A few companies are creating huge

databases full of private information The federal government regulates only its own

databases, leaving private database owners to decide how and when to distribute collected information

Privacy Privacy refers to the information on a

computer as it relates to individuals and businesses Seeing private, protected and copyrighted

electronic information is a part of working with computers

Knowing how to ethically handle this information is what is important

Copyright A copyright is a property right attached to

an original work of art or literature It grants the author or creator exclusive rights to

reproduce, distribute, adapt, perform, or display the protected work

Restricted Sites A restricted web site or web area is a site

that is only available for viewing by a certain group of people, such as students in a particular course

Restrictions can be made according to the IP number, subnet or domain of machines, or by user name and password.

Help My Computer’s Sick A computer virus passes from computer to

computer like a biological virus passes from person to person

It must piggyback on top of some other program or document in order to get executed

Once it is running, it is then able to infect other programs or documents

Consequences For those who intentionally cause damage

by transmitting a virus, the punishment can amount to ten years in federal prison, plus a fine

For those who transmit a virus with only "reckless disregard" to the damage it will cause, the maximum punishment stops at a fine and a year in prison

Misuse of Technology Includes

Hacking using e-mail to intimidate or threaten students illegally downloading music plagiarizing information from the Internet using cellular phones during class time accessing pornographic Web sites and playing video games during class

Reliability One of the great things about the Internet is that

anyone, no matter their age, education, or personal beliefs, etc. can publish information

On the other hand, one of the problems with the Internet is that anyone, no matter their age, education, or personal beliefs, etc. can publish information

That means that you, as the consumer of Internet information, must be especially careful when you are selecting materials to believe and to cite in an academic paper

Reliability Questions Who is the author or sponsor of the page Are there obvious reasons for bias Is contact information provided Is there a copyright symbol on the page Is the page a “zombie” Can you verify the information

Netiquette Simply stated, it's network etiquette -- that

is, the etiquette of cyberspace Examples of Netiquette

Do not type in all Caps Do not leave the subject field blank Refrain from formatting your e-mail with colored

text and background colors Never give out phone numbers or personal

information