Chapter 9 Information Systems Ethics and Computer Crime www.pearsoned.ca/jessup Robert Riordan, Carleton University

Learning Objectives Analyze the ethical, social, and political issues that are raised by information systems Discuss the ethical concerns associated with information privacy, accuracy, property, and accessibility Identify the main moral dimensions of an information society and specific principles for conduct that can be used to guide ethical decisions

Learning Objectives 4. Define computer crime, and list several types of computer crime 5. Contrast what is meant by the term “computer virus,” “worm,” Trojan Horse,” and “logic or time bomb” 6. Describe and explain the differences between cyberwar and cyberterrorism

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems In the past, so-called “white collar” crimes were treated with a slap on the wrist and fines to restore any damage done Industrial societies have become much less tolerant of financial, accounting, and computer crimes Managers and employees must make judgments about what constitutes legal and ethical conduct

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems Ethics: Principles of right and wrong Assumes individuals are acting as free moral agents to make choices to guide their behavior Have been given new urgency by the use of the Internet, electronic commerce, and digital technologies

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems A model for thinking about ethical, social, and political issues Illustrates the dynamics connecting ethical, social, and political issues Identifies the moral dimensions of the information society, across individual, social, and political levels of action

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems Five moral dimensions of the information age Information rights and obligations Property rights and obligations Accountability and control System quality Quality of life

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems The relationship between ethical, social, and political issues in an information society

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems Key technology trends that raise ethical issues Computing power doubles every 18 months More organizations depend on computer systems for critical operations Rapidly declining data storage costs Organizations can easily maintain detailed databases on individuals

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems Key technology trends that raise ethical issues (continued) Data analysis advances Companies can analyze vast quantities of data gathered on individuals to develop detailed profiles of individual behaviour Networking advances and the Internet Easier to copy data from one location to another and to access personal data from remote locations

Ethics in an Information Society Basic concepts: Responsibility, Accountability, and Liability Responsibility: Accepting the potential costs, duties, and obligations for decisions Accountability: Mechanisms for identifying responsible parties Liability: Permits individuals (and firms) to recover damages done to them Due process: Laws are well known and understood, with an ability to appeal to higher authorities

Ethics in an Information Society Ethical Analysis Identify and describe the facts Define the conflict or dilemma, the values involved Identify the stakeholders Identify the options Identify the consequences

Ethics in an Information Society Professional Codes of Conduct Promises by professions to regulate themselves in the general interest of society Promulgated by associations such as the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), and the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP)  

Ethics in an Information Society Some Real-World IT Ethical Dilemmas Using systems to increase efficiency, causing layoffs and personal hardships Monitoring employee use of the Internet at work to increase productivity, decreasing employee privacy  

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems

Information Privacy and Issues What information an individual must reveal to others in the course of gaining employment or shopping online Identify Theft The stealing of another person’s private information (SIN, credit card numbers, etc.) for the purpose of using it to gain credit, borrow money, buy merchandise, or otherwise run up debt that are never paid. This is especially problematic because it: is invisible to the victim, they don’t know it is happening is very difficult to correct…credit agencies are involved can cause unrecoverable losses and legal costs

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Information Rights: Privacy and Freedom in the Internet Age Privacy: Claim of individuals to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from other individuals, organizations, or the state. Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) establishes principles for collection, use, and disclosure of personal information Provinces have parallel legislation Only Quebec has legislation governing private sector

Information Property - PIPEDA Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) The law gives individuals the right to know why an organization collects, uses or discloses their personal information; expect an organization to collect, use or disclose their personal information reasonably and appropriately, and not use the information for any purpose other than that to which they have consented; know who in the organization is responsible for protecting their personal information; expect an organization to protect their personal information by taking appropriate security measures; expect the personal information an organization holds about them to be accurate, complete and up-to-date; obtain access to their personal information and ask for corrections if necessary; and complain about how an organization handles their personal information if they feel their privacy rights have not been respected.

Information Property - PIPEDA Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) The law requires organizations to: obtain consent when they collect, use or disclose their personal information; supply an individual with a product or a service even if they refuse consent for the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information unless that information is essential to the transaction; collect information by fair and lawful means; and have personal information policies that are clear, understandable and readily available.

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Internet Challenges to Privacy (continued): Cookies: Tiny files deposited on a hard drive Used to identify the visitor and track visits to the Web site   May or may not be used to gather personal private information In some cases, only a visitors customer number is maintained, not any personal information. In other cases, personal information can be gathered

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems How cookies identify Web visitors

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Internet Challenges to Privacy (continued): Web bugs: Tiny graphic files embedded in e-mail messages and Web pages Designed to monitor online Internet user behaviour When a user views the e-mail or the page, a message is sent to a without the knowledge of the user In the case of e-mail, the user’s e-mail address is known to the server

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Internet Challenges to Privacy (continued): Spyware: Software downloaded onto a user’s computer – usually without the user’s knowledge – that tracks Web behaviour and reports that behaviour to a third-party server Spyware is also used to call for ads from third-party servers, or to divert customers from one site to a preferred site

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Two Models of Providing Web Privacy: Opt-out versus opt-in model of informed consent An opt-out model of informed consent permits the collection of personal information until the consumer specifically requests that the data not be collected. The default is to assume consent is given.

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Two Models of Providing Web Privacy: Opt-out versus opt-in model of informed consent An opt-in model of informed consent prohibits an organization from collecting any personal information unless the users specifically requests to allow such use by clicking a box. The default is to assume consent is not given

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems The TRUSTe seal of approval

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Information Rights (continued) Technical Solutions: Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) Enables automatic communication of privacy policies between an e-commerce site and its visitors Privacy policy can become part of the page’s software

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems The P3P standard

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Information Property – Example of a Privacy Statement

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Ethical Issues Under what conditions should the privacy of others be invaded? What legitimates intruding into others’ lives through unobtrusive surveillance, through market research, or by whatever means? Do we have to inform people that we are eavesdropping? Do we have to inform people that we are using credit history information for employment screening purposes?  

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Social Issues In what areas of life should we as a society encourage people to think they are in private territory as opposed to public territory? Should expectations of privacy be extended to criminal conspirators?  

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Political Issues Should we permit the RCMP or CSIS to monitor email at will to apprehend suspected criminals and terrorists? To what extent should e-commerce sites and other businesses be allowed to maintain personal data about individuals?  

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Property Rights: Intellectual Property Intellectual property: Intangible property of any kind created by individuals or corporations Three main ways that intellectual property is protected: Trade secret Copyright Patents

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Property Rights: Intellectual Property Trade secret: Intellectual work or product belonging to business, not in the public domain Supreme Court test for breach of confidence: information conveyed must be confidential information must have been communicated in confidence information must have been misused by the party to whom it was communicated

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Property Rights: Intellectual Property Copyright: Statutory grant protecting intellectual property from being copied for at least 50 years Canadian copyright law protects original literary, musical, artistic, and dramatic works. It also includes software, and prohibits copying of entire programs or their parts.

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Property Rights: Intellectual Property Patents: A grant to the creator of an invention granting the owner an exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for between 17 and 20 years Patent law grants a monopoly on underlying concepts and ideas of software. Originality, novelty, and invention are key concepts

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Challenges to Intellectual Property Rights Perfect digital copies cost almost nothing Sharing of digital content over the Internet costs almost nothing Sites, software, and services for file trading are not easily regulated. The construction of web pages poses problems: a web page may present data from many sources, and incorporate framing

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Who owns the pieces? Anatomy of a Web page

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Accountability, Liability, and Control Computer-related liability problems Bank of America system failure caused cheques to bounce, etc. Sprint Canada’s system failure caused disruption in trading on Vancouver Venture Exchange Raise issues of liability legislation for software and systems

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems System Quality: Data Quality and System Errors No software program is perfect, errors will be made, even if the errors have a low probability of occurring Software manufacturers knowingly ship “buggy” products At what point should software “be shipped?” What kind of disclaimer statements might be appropriate?

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Quality of Life: Equity, Access, and Boundaries Balancing Power: Centre versus Periphery Is IT centralizing decision-making power in the hands of a few, or is it allowing many more people to participate in decisions that affect their lives? Rapidity of Change: Reduced Response Time to Competition The business you work for may not be able to respond to rapidly changing IT-enabled market places and be wiped-out, along with your job.

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Quality of Life: Equity, Access, and Boundaries Maintaining Boundaries: Family, Work, and Leisure “Do anything anywhere” environment blurs the boundaries between work, vacation, and family time Dependence and Vulnerability There are few regulatory standards to protect us from the failure of complex electrical, communications, and computer networks upon which we all depend

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Quality of Life: Equity, Access, and Boundaries Computer crime: Commission of illegal acts through the use of a computer or against a computer system is on the increase. Computer abuse: Unethical but not necessarily illegal acts. Spam is computer abuse.

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Spam filtering software

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Quality of Life: Equity, Access, and Boundaries Employment Trickle-down Technology and Reengineering: The rapid development of the Internet has made it possible to offshore hundreds of thousands of jobs from high-wage countries to low- wage countries. Reengineering existing jobs using IT also results in few jobs (generally). While this benefits low-wage countries enormously, the costs are paid by high-wage country workers

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Quality of Life: Equity, Access, and Boundaries Equity and access: Increasing Racial and Social Class Divisions Digital divides exist in ethnic, social, and wealth groups Health Risks: RSI: Repetitive Stress Injury Muscle groups are forced through repetitive actions with high-impact loads or thousands of repetitions with low-impact loads

The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Quality of Life: Equity, Access, and Boundaries Health Risks (continued): CVS: Computer Vision Syndrome Eyestrain related to computer display use Technostress Stress induced by computer use

Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems Management Opportunities

Management Opportunities, Challenges, and Solutions Managers have the opportunity to use information technology to create an ethical business and social environment. This does not mean management actions will always please all stakeholders, but at least management actions should take into account the ethical dimensions of IT-related decisions

Management Opportunities, Challenges, and Solutions Management Challenges: Understanding the moral risks of new technology Establishing corporate ethics policies that include information systems issues

Management Opportunities, Challenges, and Solutions Solution Guidelines: Managers should strive to develop an IS-specific set of ethical standards for each of the following moral dimensions: Information rights and obligations Property rights and obligations System quality Quality of life Accountability and control

Responsible Computer Use Guidelines In area of ethics, we rely on guidelines to guide behaviour. These guidelines can come from many organizations The Computer Ethics Institute developed these guidelines for ethical computer use that prohibit the following behaviors: Using a computer to harm others Interfering with other people’s computer work Snooping in other people’s files Using a computer to steal Using a computer to bear false witness Copying or using proprietary software without paying for it Using other people’s computer resources without authorization or compensation Appropriating other people’s intellectual output

Responsible Computer Use The guidelines from the Computer Ethics Institute also recommend the following when creating programs or using computers: Thinking about the social consequences of programs you write and systems you design (e.g Napster, or a piece of Spyware) Using computers in ways that show consideration and respect for others (e.g. proliferation of viruses, instant messaging, etc.)

Computer Crimes Computer Crime The act of using a computer to commit an illegal act. The broad definition of computer crime can include the following: Targeting a computer while committing an offense (e.g gaining entry to a computer system in order to cause damage to the computer or the data it contains) Using a computer to commit and offense (e.g. stealing credit card numbers from a company database) Using computers to support criminal activity (e.g. drug dealer using computers to store records of illegal transactions)

Computer Crimes and the Impact on Organizations

Computer Crime – Unauthorized Access A person gaining entry to a computer system for which they have no authority to use such access THIS IS A COMPUTER CRIME!

Computer Crime – Unauthorized Access Trends

Computer Crimes – Who Commits Them? Unauthorized Access 1998 Survey of 1600 companies by PricewaterhouseCoopers 82% come from inside the organization (employees)

Computer Crimes – Who Commits Them? Unauthorized Access Survey by Computer Security Institute

Computer Crime – Various Types 1st Half

Computer Crime – Various Types 2nd Half

Computer Crimes - Hacking and Cracking Hackers A term to describe unauthorized access to computers based entirely on a curiosity to learn as much as possible about computers. It was originally used to describe MIT students in the 1960s that gained access to mainframes. It was later used universally used for gaining unauthorized access for any reason Crackers A term to describe those who break into computer systems with the intention of doing damage or committing crimes. This term was created because of protests by true hackers

Computer Crimes – Cracker (Humorous)

Computer Crime – Software Piracy This practice of buying one copy and making multiple copies for personal and commercial use, or for resale is illegal in most countries while others offer weak or nonexistent protections. This has become and international problem as shown below

Destructive Code that Replicates Viruses These programs disrupt the normal function of a computer system through harmless pranks or by destroying files on the infected computer. They come in several types: Boot Sector – attaches to the section of a hard disk or floppy disk that boots a computer. File Infector – attach themselves to certain file types such as .doc, .exe, etc. Combination – viruses can change types between boot sector and file infector to fool antivirus programs Attachment – released from an e-mail when an attachment is launched. Can also send themselves your address book Worms This destructive code also replicates and spreads through networked computers but does damage by clogging up memory to slow the computer versus destroying files

Computer Crimes – Destructive Code

Destructive Code that Doesn’t Replicates Trojan Horses These programs do not replicate but can do damage as they run hidden programs on the infected computer that appears to be running normally (i.e. a game program that creates an account on the unsuspecting user’s computer for unauthorized access) Logic or Time Bombs A variation of a Trojan Horse that also do not replicate and are hidden but are designed to lie in wait for a triggering operation. (i.e. a disgruntled employee that sets a program to go off after they leave the company) Time Bombs – are set off by dates (e.g. a birthday) Logic Bombs – are set off by certain operations (e.g. a certain password)

Cyberwar and Cyberterrorism An organized attempt by a country’s military to disrupt or destroy the information and communications systems of another country. Common targets include: Command and control systems Intelligence collection and distribution systems Information processing and distribution systems Tactical communication systems Troop and weapon positioning systems Friend-or-Foe identification systems Smart weapons systems

Cyberwar and Cyberterrorism A denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack): an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. motives for, and targets of a DoS attack may vary generally consists of the concerted efforts of a person or people to prevent an Internet site or service from functioning efficiently or at all, temporarily or indefinitely. perpetrators of DoS attacks typically target sites or services hosted on high-profile web servers such as banks, credit card payment gateways, and even root nameservers.

Cyberwar and Cyberterrorism The use of computer and networking technologies against persons or property to intimidate or coerce governments, civilians, or any segment of society in order to attain political, religious, or ideological goals Responses to the Threat At greatest risk are those that depend highly on computers and networking infrastructure (i.e. governments, utilities, transportation providers, etc.) Responses include: Improved intelligence gathering techniques Improved cross-government cooperation Providing incentives for industry security investment