Ethical Analysis of IT Scenario Using Australian Computer Society

This essay identifies and analyzes an ethical issue presented in a YouTube video concerning the premature launch of a software product without proper security encryption to secure a future contract. The analysis is conducted through the lens of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) Code of Professional Conduct, specifically focusing on violations of honesty, competence, and professionalism. The project manager's decision to prioritize business gain over ethical considerations and security standards is scrutinized. The essay recommends against submitting the incomplete project, emphasizing the potential legal and reputational consequences. It suggests exploring options for faster encryption development and, if impossible, refusing to deliver the product without adequate security measures, thereby upholding ethical standards and protecting stakeholders' interests.

Running head: TECHNOLOGY ETHICS
Technology Ethics
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction:
The constant increment of information technology dependant for several of reasons
has become very much important. It has become very much important for the functionality of
the society with the economy of it that has provided scope for the various types of issues
including the legal, social and ethical issues (Tsui, Karam & Bernal, 2016). In the field of the
computer engineering making ethical decisions are very much important and making the
ethical decision must be integrated with the professional skills of the project manager. Not
taking proper ethical decisions can be very much destructive for the business organization
irrespective of their position and reputation in the market.
Identified Ethical Issue from the YouTube video:
In this case, the provided YouTube video has been analysed properly and it has been
understood that the main scenario of the video is based on an information technology sector
and comparing it with other business sector it is also filled with many ethical dilemmas which
must be countered by the management level of the organization (Weiss, 2014). In this case
the ethical dilemma is regarding early launch of a software product without proper security
just to achieve next tender of work.
The provided video has a short conversation among the project director of a software
development project and a project manager of an information technology related
organization. From this video it has been observed that the project director is currently
working with the project manager for development of a particular type of software within
some assigned deadline. However, the client request to deploy the software project a month
earlier from the assigned deadline and the project manager agrees with the condition of
deploying the project a month earlier without any type of encryption (YouTube, 2019). This
will surely make the product vulnerable towards the hackers and for this reason the project

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director do not want to deploy the project so early. Though the project director is not agreed
with the condition of premature delivery of the software product, the project manager is
determined to provide the product to the client one month earlier without any type of
encryption on it, just to achieve the next tender of software project.
Here for the above reason the project manager insists the project director to deliver
the software product one month earlier from the scheduled deadline of the project. In such of
the scenario, the pressure of developing a software one month earlier from the scheduled
completion date is very high for the software development team and as well as for the project
director (YouTube, 2019). As the project manager knows it is nearly impossible to deliver the
complete project one month prior of the actual delivery date he pressurizes the software
development team and the project director to deliver the software without any type of without
any type of encryption attached on it which is making the product vulnerable to attacks
(Takanen et al., 2018) and as this project is delivered in an incomplete situation this creating
a situation of ethical dilemma. Also, it becomes very much risky for both the client and the
vendor to use the unfinished product without any type of security attached on it. It has been
assessed that this will hold several legal obligations that will cause negative and serious
consequences for the software development team, project manager, project manager and for
the whole organization. Though the project manager is aware of all of these factors, he is still
ready to deliver the project one month earlier and for that he is trying to insist the project
director in this case.
Understanding the whole situation, the project director explained the whole
consequences of delivering the project one month earlier without any type of encryption on it
to the project manager, but the project manager was determined to deliver the project one
month earlier at any cost. For this reason, the project manager offered the project director that
he will be paid a high amount of bonus if the project is delivered one prior of the scheduled

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delivery (YouTube, 2019). The project manager also tried to lure the project director with
many offers and benefits so that he agrees to deliver the project before the deadline without
any type of encryption which was completely illegal.
In this particular case for analysing the ethical issues perspective of the project
Australian Computer Society Code of Professional Conduct has been used in this case. The
six codes of the ACS values are the The Primacy of the Public Interest, The Enhancement of
Quality of Life, Honesty, Competence, Professional Development and Professionalism
(McDermid, 2015). Considering the above codes of Australian Computer Society, the main
thing that is violated by the above scenario is honesty. As per the code one must be honest
while representing knowledge, skills, service and products but here this code of ACM is
violated as honesty is not maintained with the delivered product. With the code of honesty,
the code of competence is also violated in this scenario as the rights of the stakeholders are
not protected in this case. Clients will now receive an incomplete project and there will be a
high amount of pressure on the software development team which does not protects the rights
of the stakeholders. Lastly, the code of professionalism is also violated in this scenario as a
faulty or incomplete product is delivered to the client which is totally unethical in this case.
Recommendation and Conclusion:
It is highly recommended to both the project manager and the project director to not
submit the incomplete project to the project for any type of personal benefit. This unethical
way of early project submission can lead organization and the staffs towards a serious
consequences. As the client needs the project early it is recommended to develop the
encryption process faster for the projected software but will not be recommended to develop
the software without any type of encryption on it. In many cases it can happen that creating
encryption system in such low amount of time is clearly not possible. In such scenarios the

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project manager should directly deny about the project delivery without any type of
encryption on it. Thus from the above discussion it can be concluded that ethical issues need
to be considered and must be minimised while delivering a project.

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References:
McDermid, D. (2015). Ethics in ICT: an Australian perspective. Pearson Higher Education
AU.
Takanen, A., Demott, J. D., Miller, C., & Kettunen, A. (2018). Fuzzing for software security
testing and quality assurance. Artech House.
Tsui, F., Karam, O., & Bernal, B. (2016). Essentials of software engineering. Jones & Bartlett
Learning.
Weiss, J. W. (2014). Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach.
Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
YouTube. (2019). Scenario 3: Early Launch. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5M7ohdZ6qA