Computer Ethics and Information Systems

This assignment delves into the crucial field of computer ethics within the context of information systems. It requires a thorough understanding of key ethical issues such as privacy protection, data security, intellectual property rights, and responsible use of technology. Students are expected to analyze various real-world scenarios and propose solutions that align with ethical principles in information systems development and deployment.

Running Head: Professional Practice and Ethics 1
Professional Practice and Ethics
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course Name

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Table of Contents
Case Study Introduction 3
Analysis of ICT Ethical Issues 3
Reasons Behind Copyright Violations 5
Hacking as Common Act 5
Reasons Behind Cyberbullying 6
Conclusion and Solutions to the Internet Problems 6

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Case Study Introduction
People have made their life easier by using the benefits of advances in technology, due to
which, the usage of internet is at its best. On the one hand where there are various benefits of
the internet usage, there are some privacy issues also that are related to it among which
ethical issues and the behavior of the internet users are the prime ones (Stahla et al., 2014).
When it comes to primary schools, the cyberbullying has a great catch over the ethical issues
which needs to be considered by the researchers to provide safe information and
communication technology to the schools. The investigation includes serious topics like
cybercrime, internet frauds, cyberbullying, hacking of networks, and much more
(Spiekermann, 2015).
Analysis of ICT Ethical Issues
The internet is a vital part of information and communication technology that has become
quite important in the day-to-day life to make the hectic communication easy with various
offers it serves with (Floridi, 2010). Although, it gives a great positive impact; it also contains
some negative impact of the internet which is considered to be unethical regarding the
confidentiality and accessibility of the information. Following are some of the ethical
considerations that should be known.
Copyright: One needs to mark the word copyright while downloading any file from the
internet. This has become quite common currently which needs to be followed in proper
conduct. However, if it is downloaded without permission, it would violate the regulations set
by the authorities (Rainer et al., 2013).
Files like documents, music, eBooks, software, applications, etc. are found to be
downloaded with ease in nearly all the countries and this act is labeled as unethical. Although
this act has not been given due significance as it has not yet harmed the cyber economy of
any country (Holt and Bossler, 2015). This practice is widely performed while sharing files

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through the internet without any hindrance as people mostly look for free options rather than
paying for them.
Hacking: Hacking is another illegal action performed by the students of the primary schools
that damages the protocol and steals the confidential information in cyberspace. The process
of hacking includes aspects like classifying the information, stealing confidential information
like passwords, credit card details, and much more (Stahla et al., 2014).
This activity is widely processed when the computers are common or accessible. Such
activity takes place when the hackers are able to drive another person’s concentration through
their attractive traps. There are students who have the passion to become professional
hackers, and hence they commit illegal protocols (Reynolds, 2011). A good example of this
issue was seen in 2014 when 14 branches of the Affin Bank, Bank Islam, and Al Rajhi Bank
were hacked through their ATMs by a hacking gang.
Cyber Bullying : Cyber bullying is an illegal act that is carried by harassing individuals with
the help of internet. The act has grabbed various primary school students resulting in the
destruction of their psychological condition (Spiekermann, 2015). This result turns to be
hilarious when the user is having no idea about cyber bullying and fails to protect
himself/herself against it (Floridi, 2010). The act also includes irritation caused by speeches
that scare people and frustrate them. The primary school girls are the prime victims of cyber
bullying where they are delivered with threatening messages or voice messages that hinder
their privacy. The common result seen in various students is changing the school, and the
worst result of such bullying is the commitment to suicide by the victim (Whitman and
Mattord, 2012).
Data Privacy: Everyday, the internet is used to store various files and data that can be
counted in a million gigabytes. When it comes to maintaining this data, the privacy of the
same has been of crucial concern. The Internet contains various personal data of the people

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that is quite sensitive (Laudon, 2016). When an individual looks forward to any deals or
rights on the internet, they are generally asked to go through the agreement that is labeled
under the privacy policy of the user’s right and data privacy terms (Raiyn, 2014). The policy
helps to know which portion of the data can be used and modified by the authorities.
Reasons Behind Copyright Violations
Here are some situations and causes that lead to violations regarding the copyright laws.
 Having insufficient knowledge about the topic that encourages plagiarism.
 Lack of information about the results of copying copyrighted materials.
 Not declaring the terms of the copyright on the website (Reynolds, 2011).
 High price of the legitimate sellers on the internet which leads to piracy.
 Lack of enforcement of laws properly for protection of intellectual property data.
Hacking as Common Act
When it comes to cybercrime, hacking has been the most common one, that has resulted in
the increase of fraud cases. The hackers generally try to trap the internet user for gaining
maximum information from them. Hacking through credit cards is a widely observed crime
around the world; as nearly 90% of the total credit card users are found carrying online
transactions.
Here are some reasons that convert the users into victims of hackers:
 File sharing and downloading has been observed to be the primary reason as to why
hackers are progressing as it is easily carried by an unprotected download of
programs, codes, etc. through pen drive downloading and file sharing.
 Another way the hackers are progressing are attractive traps like phishing, email
spams, etc. that allows the hackers to use the private data of the internet user
(Whitman and Mattord, 2012).

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Hacking has hence, become a widely spread crime due to the system bugs or the carelessness
of the cyber authorities. The lack of updating of the systems is also a major reason that makes
it easy for the hackers to perform their activities (Heersmink, 2011).
Reasons Behind Cyberbullying
The major reason behind the cyber bullying is the increased use of social media, mostly by
the children that lead to psychological harm. Here are some reasons for the increase in cyber
bullying:
 The increase of feelings like anger, frustration, or revenge developing in teenagers
leads to cyber bullying.
 Unawareness of proper use of personal information on social networks resulting in
harassment by bad people.
 Too much interaction with strangers resulting to bullying or blackmailing.
Conclusion and Solutions to the Internet Problems
All the disasters regarding the internet occur due to improper maintenance of cyber ethical
issues along with workplace ethics (Floridi, 2010). No doubt the speed of the communication
through the internet has given many benefits, there are events where it is misused also.
However, proper control over all these measures can also limit the cyber crimes which can be
carried as follows:
Prevention to a violation of copyright:
 The promotion of open source campaigning to various universities would help to
control the plagiarism to a great extent. The more the students and the public get to
know about it; the more piracy would be controlled (Stahla et al., 2014).
 Generate awareness among the people not to use pirated games, as this would
discourage the owners in their work.

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 Putting the illegal download movies under the banned section and implementation of
laws properly along with the proper promotion (Rainer et al., 2013).
 Design a free software with limitations for music, images, etc., along with a paid
software.
Solutions for hacking problems:
 Increase the use of anti-virus programs to avoid malicious programs to prevent from
hacking.
 Using different passwords to sign in while using various websites that require
registration (Raiyn, 2014).
 Clearing the cookies after browsing the internet for making the computer user safe.
 Increase in campaigns to limit credit card hacking, websites, etc.
 Look before using any kind of free Wi-Fi to avoid the unpleasant results.
Prevention of cyber bullying:
 Counselling the students to be open to parents and guardians to avoid any kind of
frustration.
 Campaigns to help them in using their private information on the internet to avoid
bullying.

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Reference
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