University IT Ethics Report: Spoofing Apps Ethical Issues Case Study

This report delves into the ethical considerations surrounding the spoofing of enterprise applications through the use of malware. It begins by outlining the problem of unauthorized access to mobile devices via malicious software. The core of the report focuses on applying four key ethical theories—Utilitarianism, Social Contract Theory, Deontological Ethics, and Virtue Ethics—to the issue of app spoofing. The discussion analyzes how app spoofing violates each ethical framework, highlighting the negative consequences for both enterprises and individuals. Specifically, the report argues that spoofing apps undermines deontological principles, fails the utilitarian test due to its harmful outcomes, breaches social contracts by disrupting moral order, and contradicts the virtues of ethical behavior. The conclusion reinforces the unethical nature of spoofing apps and emphasizes the potential for serious damage resulting from such actions. The report uses a case study approach to analyze the ethical implications, providing a framework for understanding the complexities of cybersecurity ethics.

Running head: ETHICAL ISSUES IN IT
ETHICAL ISSUES IN IT
Name of student
Name of university
Author’s note:

1
ETHICAL ISSUES IN IT
Introduction
In the present world, there have been several issues where it has been observed the
hackers have been able to gain the access in the mobile phones of the common people using
dangerous malware. This report provides the discussion of the ethical issues of the spoofing
of the apps by using malware. The discussion of the ethical theories is provided in this report
along with the connection of the selected issue with the ethical theories is also discussed in
this report.
Discussion
The four ethical theories have been discussed for understanding the various ethical
issues related to the acts that are executed in the daily life. These ethical theories could be
determined as the Utilitarianism, Social Contract Theory, Deontological ethics, and the
Virtue Ethics (Van Wart 2014).
When discussing about the deontological ethics, it is the ethics that claims to depend
on the justification of the act that has been committed instead of the consequences of the
actions. This theory could be defined as the predefined collection of the rules as well as the
policies that is maintained for proper functioning of the system in any environment. Any task

2
ETHICAL ISSUES IN IT
that has been committed could be virtuous if the checklist has been completed (Welsh et al.
2015). This theory is particularly easy to comprehend and easy to implement. The minimum
time is in involved in the decision of wrong or right about any action. In the situation of the
spoofing the enterprise apps, this action violates the deontological theory as it does not
portray itself as the ethical act.
Utilitarianism could be described as the ethical theory which determines the right and
the wrong by judging the outcomes of the actions (Goldstein et al. 2016). This could be
described as the form of the consequentialism. The major limitation of this ethical theory is
that it could not be predicted whether any action could be right or wrong prior executing that
task (Zhu and Jesiek 2017). This theory is the most common ethical for the justification of the
acts that are executed in the business. In the situation of the spoofing users apps, this act
violates the Utilitarianism theory as the consequences of the spoofing apps could lead to the
damage of the enterprise as well as the common people than it provides the advantages for
them.
The ethical theory of the social contract could be defined as the residing of the
peoples in the society in the accordance with the agreement, which establishes political and
the moral rules of the behaviour (Kumar, Leslie and Cullen 2017.). Several people believes
that if the every individual resides in the society as per the social contract, there would be
situation of the moral living by the individual. In the situation of the spoofing apps, there
might be situation when the spoofing of apps by the unauthorised users could violate this
ethical theory as it would not allow the residing of people in the society with morality that is
justified.
The virtue ethics of the ethical theory majorly emphasises on the virtue of the
character in the contrast of the approach, which emphasises on the rules or the duties or it

3
ETHICAL ISSUES IN IT
does emphasise on the consequences of the actions (Cranston, Ehrich and Kimber 2014). The
main intention of the unauthorised users in executing the malware attacks is the gaining of
access in the mobile devices of the users and damage the information that is stored in the
mobile devices.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that the spoofing apps using the malware in the
organisation could not be considered as the ethical act and it could lead to the serious
consequences. The minimum time is in involved in the decision of wrong or right about any
action. In the situation of the spoofing the enterprise apps, this action violates the
deontological theory as it does not portray itself as the ethical act. In the situation of the
spoofing users apps, this act violates the Utilitarianism theory as the consequences of the
spoofing apps could lead to the damage of the enterprise as well as the common people than
it provides the advantages for them. In the situation of the spoofing apps, there might be
situation when the spoofing of apps by the unauthorised users could violate this ethical theory
as it would not allow the residing of people in the society with morality that is justified. The
main intention of the unauthorised users in executing the malware attacks is the gaining of
access in the mobile devices of the users and damage the information that is stored in the
mobile devices.

4
ETHICAL ISSUES IN IT
References
Cranston, N., Ehrich, L.C. and Kimber, M., 2014. Managing ethical dilemmas. Handbook of
ethical educational leadership, pp.229-245.
Goldstein, B., Hansen, S.F., Gjerris, M., Laurent, A. and Birkved, M., 2016. Ethical aspects
of life cycle assessments of diets. Food Policy, 59, pp.139-151.
Kumar, V., Leslie, S.J. and Cullen, S., 2017. The ethical significance of cognitive
science. Current controversies in philosophy of cognitive science. Abingdon: Routledge.
Van Wart, M., 2014. Contemporary varieties of ethical leadership in
organizations. International Journal of Business Administration, 5(5), p.27.
Welsh, D.T., Ordóñez, L.D., Snyder, D.G. and Christian, M.S., 2015. The slippery slope:
How small ethical transgressions pave the way for larger future transgressions. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 100(1), p.114.
Zhu, Q. and Jesiek, B.K., 2017. A pragmatic approach to ethical decision-making in
engineering practice: Characteristics, evaluation criteria, and implications for instruction and
assessment. Science and engineering ethics, 23(3), pp.663-679.