Ethical Theories and Legal Issues in Cybercrime

This assignment examines the 2012 LinkedIn hacking incident through the lens of various ethical theories, including deontology, utilitarianism, and pragmatism. It analyzes how these theories apply to the actions of the hackers and the legal consequences they faced under Western Australian and US federal law. The paper delves into Section 440A of the Criminal Code Act 1913 and 18 USC Section 1030 of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, highlighting their relevance to cybercrime prosecution.

Running Head: MASTER OF CYBER SECURITY 1
Master of Cyber Security
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Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Ethical theories:..........................................................................................................................3
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................4

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Introduction:
Computers and the subsequent development of networking systems has not only connected
the whole word through a huge web of the internet but also provided opportunities for
malicious activities. The interlinking of different computer on the internet can be assumed as
a favourable indication for hackers to trespass into networks without authentication. The
damages which hacking can render are largely observed in terms of deleting files, access to
passwords and other confidential information and capabilities to view the victim’s activities
on a machine (Altner & Servi, 2016). The recent decade has witnessed several high profile
hacking cases in which colossal volumes of confidential user data were compromised.
However it is essential to emphasize on the ethical and legal implications concerned with
hacking that would assist in reflecting critically on the hacking incidents. The high profile
hacking case under concern in this assignment is the 2012 LinkedIn hack that was responsible
for misappropriation of almost 117 million user accounts and passwords (Beach, 2014).
Ethical theories:
In the case of 2012 LinkedIn hack it can be observed that deontology was violated since the
ethical theory is based on the principle of people adhering to their duties and obligations. The
role of the hackers as contributors to the society on ethical grounds is violated as they were
not able to uphold the legal precedents related to use of computers and relevant networks.
However, deontology could be critiqued in context of LinkedIn’s hacking case since there is
no specific estimation of duties for the hackers. Therefore it is improbable to determine if the
hackers have violated their duties.
Consequentialism is also considered as a major ethical theory which determines the ethical
validity of particular actions on the grounds of the action’s relevant outcomes. The
classification of consequentialism into various underlying theories on the grounds of the
nature of the outcomes and its benefits could be observed in the theories of hedonism,
utilitarianism, intellectualism and egoism. These individual theories are associated with
distinct consequences such as hedonism characterizes the most desirable outcome that can be
obtained from a process (Caelli & Liu, 2017). However, in the case of the high profile
hacking case of LinkedIn the impact of egoism can be profoundly observed. Egoism suggests
the benefit for self and the example of the sale of the hacked LinkedIn user accounts and
passwords on the Dark Web indicate that the hackers depicted egoism. Intellectualism can be
apprehended in this case owing to the countermeasures implemented by LinkedIn to

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understand the sources of the breach and potential gaps in their design. The hacking incident
also contributed to the increasing awareness among users regarding the security of their
accounts that indicates promotion of knowledge and thereby intellectualism could be
validated. Thereafter, utilitarianism can be anticipated to a certain extent despite the losses
since hacking attacks enable the development of secure systems (Dely, 2015).
High profile hacking attacks could also be reviewed on the grounds of pragmatism which
indicates the progress of society on the grounds of scientific principles since the concerns of
protection of systems are strengthened. The hacking attacks lead to explicit realization of
scientific principles of experimentation, research and analysis of the hacking attacks. On the
other hand, divine command cannot be perceived in this case since hackers do not have any
ethical obligations to organization or ruler or any god in the case of the LinkedIn 2012 hack
(Lera et al., 2016).
Legal issues:
The prominent highlights of cyber-crimes are associated with a considerable assortment of
probable legal issues and the explicit legal regulation that could be identified in the state
jurisdiction law of Western Australia is noted in Section 440A of Criminal Code Act 1913.
The section is profoundly emphasized on the ‘Unlawful Use of Computer’ and can be
implemented in the case of hackers involved in the LinkedIn 2012 hack since they were
accounted for unlawful access to a restricted computer network and utilization of the data for
monetary benefits (Caelli & Liu, 2017). Therefore, the hackers could be subject to
imprisonment for 10 years and/or fine amounting up to $5000. Another profound legal
regulation that could be observed in context of the LinkedIn 2012 hacks is the 18 USC
Section 1030 of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) of US federal computer crime
statute (Caelli & Liu, 2017). The law is intended to address different acts related to
compromises in network security and in the concerned high profile hacking case, the
involvement of hackers in the decryption of user account information. The hackers could face
penalty of 10 years in prison with a fine of $250,000 for the first offence while the second
offense could land them up in prison for 20 years.
Conclusion:
The report illustrated the four different ethical theories within legal jurisdiction pertaining to
the 2012 LinkedIn hacking case. The discussion on ethical issues was based on multiple

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ethical theories which were reviewed within the constraints of the legal framework pertaining
to cyber security.
References
Altner, D., &Servi, L. (2016).A Two-Stage Stochastic Shift Scheduling Model for
Cybersecurity Work force Optimization with On Call Options.
Beach, S. K. (2014). Usable cybersecurity: Human factors in cybersecurity education
curricula. Natl. Cybersecurity Inst. J, 5.
Caelli, W. J., & Liu, V. (2017).Cybersecurity education at formal university level: An
Australian perspective.
Dely, J. (2015). Incorporating Cybersecurity into Water Utility Master Planning. Proceedings
of the Water Environment Federation, 2015(17), 1274-1287.
Lera, F. J. R., Balsa, J., Casado, F., Fernández, C., Rico, F. M., & Matellán, V.
(2016).Cybersecurity in Autonomous Systems: Evaluating the performance of
hardening ROS. Málaga, Spain, 47.
Rieb, A., &Lechner, U. (2016, August). Operation Digital Chameleon: Towards an Open
Cybersecurity Method. In Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Open
Collaboration (p. 7).ACM.