An Interesting and Topical Field of Discussion Concerned with Ethics in Computing Involves

Group D: Ethics in Computing

Computer technology is constantly developing and has been for many years. In the last couple of decades in particular computers have become an essential part of everyday life in the modern world. In parallel to this development however has been an evolving view of what is ethically correct. Each new piece of hardware or software brings with it its own ethical questions. How much control do users have over their own intellectual property? What role does, or what role should governments play in regulating standards of ethics amongst their own population? These are just a couple of the questions that we will be trying to discuss in our articles. We have identified six specific topics which we feel are topical and appropriate to this field: Unsecured Wireless Networks, Electronic Medical Records, Spyware, The Sony Rootkit, Hacking and International Ethics. The following are summaries of these topics:

1. Unsecured Wireless Networks An interesting and topical field of discussion concerned with ethics in computing involves unsecured wireless networks, yet it is a subject relatively underrepresented in current ethical debates. There are two main areas relating to this topic; wardriving and piggybacking, both of which will be briefly outlined in conjunction with various ethical issues. Wardriving refers to "The benign act of locating and logging wireless access points while in motion" (Blackwave, 2003). For many, it is a hobby and does not currently infringe upon any legal ruling. An unofficial ‘Code of Ethics’ was also introduced to set out a series of suggestions for wardrivers to follow, ensuring they keep the activity both legal and ethical, and are acting in an unobtrusive manner. A key principle of wardriving is that if an individual were to use wardriving to connect to and exploit a wireless network, they have crossed the line into illegal activity, and are no longer regarded as a wardriver, but a criminal. It is evident that wardriving should not be regarded as an ethical concern in computing. However, there is a grey area that exists between wardrivers and criminals, involving those who choose to connect to an unsecured wireless network without permission, but only for the purposes of accessing the internet and performing perfectly legal operations. This act of ‘piggybacking’ or ‘mooching’ deals with a different and more complex set of ethical issues in comparison with wardriving, and refers to those who take advantage of unsecured, open networks they may find in their home, apartment block or even local park, by connecting and ‘borrowing’ the owner’s bandwidth without their knowledge. There is a definite divide regarding ethical views in this area, with individuals both for and against piggybacking having robust arguments to substantiate their opinions. These are discussed in greater detail in the individual essay on this topic, concluding with the consensus that despite being unethical, piggybacking is not something we have the time or resources to halt at present.

2. Electronic Medical Records Another topic deeply rooted in ethical concerns is that of Electronic Medical Records which is planned to begin operating in early 2007 by the NHS in the UK. There are a host of ethical issues that, as of yet, the Government and officials have not dealt with to a satisfactory level. Doubts have been raised over who should and who will have access to patient records, and the subsequent issue raised by the handling of patient consent with regards to the amount and type of information you wish to restrict from those who have access to the system. The problems are exacerbated because the project is dealing with 60,000,000 individuals across the country, and it is very challenging to establish a balance between allowing immediate access to those who need it, and protection at all other times from those who do not need to see it. The individual essay discusses these concerns at a greater level, and also concludes with a case study of a similar project developed and abandoned in Iceland due to public objections related to ethical concerns. This poses the ultimate question of whether the NHS project could fall fate to the same end if it does not adapt its strategy of development.

3. Spyware These days most homes have computers with internet access. People are using computers to perform more and more tasks. In the past they were perhaps only used for word processing but now they can be used for almost anything, for instance online banking has become very popular in recent times. As a result of this more and more personal information is being stored on these machines. This provides an opportunity for more unscrupulous people to take advantage and try to steal this information. Software technology has been developed as a means to achieve these ends. An example of this is Spyware. Once installed on a machine the software gathers information and then sends back to its source. Generally the software runs constantly, using system resources and obviously using bandwidth to transmit the information. Some spyware programs are used in advertising, either to gather information to produce targeted advertising or by producing pop-ups on the screen when the user is running a web browser. Another similar type of program is Adware. This software is installed purely for advertising purposes and does not gather any information about the user. The greatest ethical issue of this topic is that these programs are invariably installed without the permission or knowledge of the user.

4. The Sony Rootkit Sony are an internationally recognised company, their products are popular worldwide. As a result of this people trust the Sony brand. In particular people who are perhaps not computer literate rely on quality brands to ensure that they are purchasing reliable products.

Unfortunately in 2005 Sony abused this trust by including what many considered to be malicious software on many of their CD’s in the United States. The software was designed to limit the number of times music could be ‘ripped’ from the CD. It also limited CD playback on computers by limiting playback to software on the device so other mp3 paying software could not be used. However not only was this software installed without the knowledge of the users, it was also designed to remain hidden while operating. To do this it used a rootkit, this is a program which is designed to hide running processes. However the rootkit Sony used was badly designed, giving rise to security issues. Sony indicated that they had included the software as a copy protection measure however that argument fell down in my opinion since one of the other features of the device was to limit the transfer of music to portable devices (mp3 players). In particular the music could not be transferred to the Apple Ipod at all despite this being one of the most popular portable mp3 players in the world. Is it coincidence that Apple is a major rival of Sony?

5) Hacking Hacking is very prominent in modern society. As technology has developed more and more, more opportunities have arisen for malicious people to take advantage of security holes to damage the systems of others. Possible routes of damage are identity theft or system destruction.

There are 3 main categories of Hacker, each with their own ethical stance, white hats, black hats and gray hats. The white hats are the ‘good’ hackers. They are employed by owners of computers/networks to find and illuminate security holes. They do this by hacking in the same way a malicious hacker does but they do not damage the system or steal information, rather they explain to the owner how they got in. Gray hats are similar to white hats in that they do not directly damage systems. However they do hack in without the permission of the owner. Their goal is to make all information free. They will hack a system to release the information to the general public. Is this unethical since it is done without permission? Finally there are black hats, these are criminal hackers. There goal is to steal information or to damage systems. It is widely accepted without question that these are the ‘bad’ hackers. If they are caught then they are subject to various laws.

6) International Ethics The idea of ethics is subjective. An ethical view can be based very much on a person’s point of view. Just as their point of view can be based strongly on their own social or economic background. Different countries install different standards of ethics on their populace. It is interesting that the two countries that have the highest numbers of computer users, America and China, are a world apart in terms of their ethical stance. For instance in America children are taught and encouraged to use computers from a relatively young age but in China computer use is much more regulated for young users. In China it is illegal for children under the age of 18 to enter an internet café and in fact it not permitted for internet cafes to be built near schools. They consider that these cafes provide an unhealthy environment for children as they could waste a lot of their time playing games online.

Another important example is that in America (and in fact in many western countries including the UK) there is a legitimate market for online gambling. However in China it is absolutely forbidden.

The ethical question in terms of computing internationally is especially relevant as a result of the internet. Because America allows online gambling sites to exist, Chinese people can access these sites via the web, making it difficult for Chinese authorities to police. The same is true in reverse. Do countries have a responsibility to establish a standard of international ethics?

These six topics provide a wide insight into the question of what is ethically correct in the world of computing. It is important that the IT community as a whole monitors all of these areas. The biggest problem really is the rapid development of technology making it difficult to establish a standard of ethics which can be maintained. That, combined with what we have discussed with differences in international ethics is why Ethics in computing is a topic which will remain at the forefront of IT discussions for many years to come. Bibliography and References

BLACKWAVE. 2003. Wardriving Ethics and the Media, 30th September, 2003. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 07/11/06]