Legal and Ethical Issues in Information Security

This assignment examines the crucial role of legal and ethical frameworks within the Australian information security landscape. It delves into the risks associated with IT operations, emphasizing workplace health and safety, privacy regulations (like Privacy Act and Amendment Act), and anti-discrimination laws. The essay highlights the importance of adhering to codes of ethics, such as the ACS Code of Ethics, to foster a safe and productive work environment. By analyzing legal precedents and ethical guidelines, the assignment underscores the responsibility of both employees and employers in maintaining ethical and lawful practices within the IT sector.

LEGAL, ETHICAL & PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
IN
INFORMATION SECURITY
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Body:............................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................5
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Introduction
Irrespective of the nature of Australian firm, companies are expected to adhere and follow legal
and ethical framework as put forward by the Legal Framework. All workers regardless of their
field and profession should function within the ethical and legal framework of the country.
Companies should also follow ethical norms and implement appropriate legal framework and
ensure that employee management is conducted in an ethical way. The essay here discusses legal
and ethical framework in the professional environment in Australia with special focus on
discussing the risk management in IT sector in Australia (Remley and Herlihy, 2012). Risk of
working is common in any business environment. Companies sometimes violate the employee
norms and law and thus lead to problem. Employee safety and risk management are key issues in
administration demands special evaluation and analysis here in this essay.
Body:
Everyone in Australian professional environment are expected to function within the boundaries
defined by the legal and ethical framework. Legal framework should be followed to eliminate
risks and safety oriented issues in the internal working environment. Employees will not work
properly if they do not feel safe and secured. Risks could be eliminated in a strategic way by
implementing appropriate law and statues (Cohen and Liverman, 2011).
While the laws of the country restricts and strictly mention the specific behaviour of the
employee and management in a unique way, ethics, however defines codes of socially accepted
behaviour and how one should present himself in the society. Ethics include cultural codes and
also introduced customs as and when necessary. Laws however, need to be approved by the
authority before implementation. Ethics are not always legally approved and hence could be
implemented by the governing authority (Chase, 2015).
For instances the following statues;
Privacy Act (Commonwealth) 1988
Privacy Amendment Act 2000
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Some of the most important laws followed here are;
i. Workplace health and safety act
ii. Anti-Discrimination Act
iii. Equal Employment Opportunity
iv. Environmental Standards
v. Duty of Care
vi. Privacy Act
vii. Data Privacy Act
Work place safety is of tremendous importance as this act helps in developing safety and security
of the employee. When the employee is safe and secured in the work environment he would
automatically work properly and ensure business development in a defined way. After going
through the norms mentioned by ACS book I put forward the following approach that could be
considered for managing work environment. ACS Code of Ethics strictly highlights ways of
improving professional work environment in an ethical way by following honour, dignity and
effectiveness to the core (Hartman, 2011).
Though this apparently seems possible, in a practical environment the supervisor may lead to a
difficult situation which shall be impossible to overcome by a junior administrator. In such
critical situations following the ACS codes and adhering to ethical norms will help in getting an
edge in the situation and overcome the problem in a defined way,
Such a system was not followed and rules were violated. The law also mentioned ways of
evolving as a good and responsible citizen in the Australian society. Thus law is Australian
society is unique and motivates and support performance of the employees within the company
in a defined way. It also helps the management to understand and implement activities as per
legal norms and follow ethical approaches to improve overall functionality of the business
management in a defined way (Susilo and Mu, 2014).
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Conclusion:
Ethical codes and legal framework are to be followed by every company and ensure employee
involvement and employee safety. Developing a safe and risk free work environment
automatically attracts employees towards the company and when knowledgeable and productive
employees join the company it automatically enhances its performance in a defined way. Hence,
companies adopt various ethical and legal frameworks to ensure improvement in production and
employee performance.
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References
Chase, Y. (2015). Professional Ethics: Complex Issues for the Social Work Profession. Journal
of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 25(7), pp.766-773.
Cohen, H. and Liverman, C. (2011). Certifying personal protective technologies. Washington,
D.C.: National Academies Press.
Hartman, L. (2011). Perspectives in business ethics. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Remley, T. and Herlihy, B. (2012). Ethical, legal, and professional issues in counseling.
Susilo, W. and Mu, Y. (2014). Information Security and Privacy. Cham: Springer International
Publishing.
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