IT Ethics Assignment 1: Ransomware Case Analysis (Semester 1)

This report analyzes a recent ransomware case, examining its ethical implications through three distinct perspectives: professional, philosophical, and sociological. The analysis begins by outlining the ransomware attack as a key ethical dilemma, highlighting the impact of data breaches and the actions of cyber attackers. The professional ethics perspective focuses on codes of conduct and responsibilities of IT professionals in safeguarding data. The philosophical ethics perspective considers the moral implications of the attack, emphasizing the importance of individual morality and confidentiality. The sociological perspective examines the broader societal impact, including normative, meta, and descriptive ethics, and the actions of those involved. The report uses this framework to discuss the ethical failures of the attackers and the responsibilities of organizations in preventing such attacks. The report emphasizes the need for robust security measures, ethical guidelines, and the protection of individual privacy in the face of increasing cyber threats. The report concludes by advocating for preventative measures and ethical considerations to mitigate the negative impacts of ransomware attacks.

Topic in IT Ethics
Assignment 1: Three Distinct Perspectives of Applied Ethics
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Running head: Topic in IT ethics
Introduction
When focus is given on the last 6 months case it has been seen that Ransomware is one of
the ethical dilemma which took place in 2018. In the recent scenario, there are many issues
which are taking place just because of the data breach. If focus is given on the Ransomware
attack it has been seen that majority of the data breach is the main cause. In this report the focus
will be given on various perceptive like professional ethics, philosophical ethics and sociological
ethics. The case related to Ransomware will be evaluated on the basis of these perceptive. It has
been researched that 53,000 problems take place just because of ransomware (Brewer, 2016).
From this attack main impact is seen on the humans so it is important that people should be
aware of the attacks so that safety can be maintained. The privacy of the people is leaked just
because of this attack and has negatively affected the people safety. There are many people
hackers who are earning by completing less work and seeing the personal information of the
people. In this paper the incident will be analyzed in depth so that it can be simple for the people
to maintain their safety.
Professional ethics Perceptive
If emphasis is given on this perceptive it has been seen that it is linked with the
professional ethics. In this ethics are considered that will be maintained by the professionals of
the business. It is important to focus on the code of conduct in business environment. If there is
no proper code of conduct then it can be difficult for the company to survive in competitive
market. It is the responsibility of the people to work in proper code of conduct. If proper code of
conduct is there then it can be simple to take corrective step which can be beneficial for the
people (Baer & Nagy, 2017).
In case of ransomeware attack it has been seen that hackers or cyber attackers affect the
entire system which is not ethical in the eye of law. One of the unethical acts is ransomware
attack in which the personal information’s of the people are leaked without any concern.
According to ethics, the data should be safeguard of the people and it should not be showcased in
front of people. The people who take the personal of the people are considered as hackers and
they create many codes to breach the personal data of the individuals by entering into the system.
In case of developers it is important to consider the ethics at the time of making software as it
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Running head: Topic in IT ethics
will give positive impact on the people. The main purpose at the time of making the software is
for own interest. It is the responsibility of the people to focus on safeguarding the information so
that customers can be satisfied in a proper manner (Durkheim, 2013).
Philosophical ethics perceptive
In context to philosophical ethics it is essential to complete the task as per the moral of
the individuals. When focus is given on the moral laws it has been seen that human being should
be true in completing their activities. The moral of the individual is not only limited to profession
but it should also be related to the personal life of the people (Scaife, Carter, Traynor & Butler,
2016). The people should consider and value the morals of the other people so that operations
can take place in a proper manner. In philosophical ethics the morals are important to be taken
into consideration. Ethics are not for short term it is for long term and should be followed by the
individual in his or her entire life. It is important to have morality so that personal life of the
people can be maintained and also philosophical ethics towards the people should be there in a
proper manner ( Darwall, 2018).
When focus is given ransomware attack it has been seen that there are two perspectives
one is related to cyber security and other is related with maintaining confidentiality of data.
There are many hackers who give impact on the individuals and it gives negative impact on their
personal life also. Next is related to safeguard the information by the people. The individuals are
not able to maintain safety. In ransomware the attackers have the motive to harm others. It is
important to follow professional code of conduct so that operations can take place in right
direction (Kaur, Dhir & Singh, 2017).
Sociological perceptive
It is important to focus on security so that people can complete their operations in right
manner. In this perceptive there are many factors that should be considered by the company so
that privacy can be maintained. There are normative ethics, Meta ethics and also descriptive
ethics.
In context to normative ethics it has been analyzed that people should focus on the ethics.
Ethics is essential to be considered so that proper operations can take place. Meta ethics
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elaborates the proper theories that are concerned to the behavior of the people and their acts
according to ethics. In descriptive ethics the actions are conducted by focusing on the two ethical
concepts of the individuals in relation to profession. The attitude of the individual also plays a
great role in completing the overall operations of the company (Peters, 2015).
The developers who create this malicious software focus to destroy the system of the
people without any permission. The aim of the developer is to affect the entire information of the
people with malicious attack. It has been seen that ethical laws should be followed so that it can
be easy to complete the operations. The information of the people are leaked which give negative
impact on the people and there are hackers who ask for the amount. People get ready to give
amount so that information can be safeguard. In the last 6 months there are many people who
privacy has been hampered and they have faced many issues (Trevino & Nelson, 2016).
In context to the descriptive ethics it has been evaluated that the decision of the authority
is justified by focusing on the situation. This is not ethical in the eye of law but these steps are
taken by the people are they are paying to safeguard themselves from these types of attacks.
There are no moral ethics in attackers and they are giving negative impact on the people just
because they want advantage. It has been analyzed that it cannot be justified to give negative
impact on the people just because people want to gain benefit (Kharraz, Robertson, Balzarotti,
Bilge & Kirda, 2015).
It can be analyzed that people have to be secure from these attacks by following proper
ethics and values so that negative impact can be reduced. It is also not justified that people have
to pay to secure themselves. It is the responsibility of the company to secure the people
information so that growth can be achieved in the market. The developers focus on the system
that are vulnerable and data is also leaked through this. Ethical laws should focus on this case so
that it can be simple to protect the individuals. It is important for companies to measure the
attacks so that corrective actions can be taken into consideration. There should also be proper
justification on the moral basis so that money can be saved and also confidentiality of the
information should be there. It has been seen that descriptive ethics perspective focuses on the
attitude of the people by evaluating ethical laws carried out by the ransomware authorities. There
should be also proper implications of the policies so that operations cannot be hampered. The
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operations should be handled with proper care so that confidential information cannot be
considered in the wrong way.
References
Baer, R., & Nagy, L. M. (2017). Professional Ethics and Personal Values in Mindfulness-Based
Programs: A Secular Psychological Perspective. In Practitioner's Guide to Ethics and
Mindfulness-Based Interventions (pp. 87-111). Springer, Cham.
Brewer, R. (2016). Ransomware attacks: detection, prevention and cure. Network
Security, 2016(9), 5-9.
Darwall, S. (2018). Philosophical Ethics: An Historical and Contemporary Introduction.
Routledge.
Durkheim, E. (2013). Professional ethics and civic morals. Routledge.
Hoffman, W. M., Frederick, R. E., & Schwartz, M. S. (Eds.). (2014). Business ethics: Readings
and cases in corporate morality. John Wiley & Sons.
Kaur, G., Dhir, R., & Singh, M. (2017). Anatomy of ransomware malware: detection, analysis
and reporting. International Journal of Security and Networks, 12(3), 188-197.
Kharraz, A., Robertson, W., Balzarotti, D., Bilge, L., & Kirda, E. (2015, July). Cutting the
gordian knot: A look under the hood of ransomware attacks. In International Conference
on Detection of Intrusions and Malware, and Vulnerability Assessment (pp. 3-24).
Springer, Cham.
Peters, R. S. (2015). Ethics and Education (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
Scaife, N., Carter, H., Traynor, P., & Butler, K. R. (2016, June). Cryptolock (and drop it):
stopping ransomware attacks on user data. In Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS),
2016 IEEE 36th International Conference on (pp. 303-312). IEEE.
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Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2016). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do
it right. John Wiley & Sons.
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