Information Technology Ethics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Information Technology Ethics - Term Paper Example Cyber crimes are here to stay. As Price stated, â€Å"As the number of computer owners connected to the internet increases, so too does the opportunity for cyber crime† (Price, 2010). Chantler in his review of the book, â€Å"The Reality of the Threat† by Nigel Phair (2007) cited Phair’s description of the different cyber crimes (Chantler, 2007). Phair noted (as cited by Chantler 2007) that cyber crimes can be broadly divided into seven groups namely: 1) unwanted software; 2) identity crime; 3) phishing; 4) critical infrastructure protection; 5) intellectual property; 6) communications; and 7) terrorism (Chantler, 2007). Hacking activities, spyware, adware, cookies, Trojans, spams and viruses fall under unwanted software. Unwanted software may be found either outside or within the organization. The second and third types of cyber crime, identity crime and phishing, deal with proof of identity, authentication of internet users and the tools used to get information . Chantler goes on further to cite Phair’s description of the other divisions of cyber crimes (2007). Critical infrastructure protection crimes are the crimes which involve the destruction of the information structures such as telecommunications and computer networks. On the other hand, crimes on intellectual property are concerned with software piracy. Cyber crime on communications is another form of cyber crime which gets much attention from organizations. These type of crimes include risks and threats on â€Å"wireless devices, VoIP (voice-over-internet protocol) - such as Skype and Google-talk, third generation phone systems, issues with caller ID, clipping, v-bombing, sim boxing, internet dumping, PABX hacking, phoneline scanning, voicemail, cloning, Bluetooth, RFID† and issues on privacy (Chantler, 2007). Like any other group of society, terrorists have also resorted to digital technology in carrying out their activities. They use cyber space to commit crimes suc h as information warfare and distributed denial of service attacks (ddos) (Chantler, 2007). One of the most common crimes which Chantler failed to mention is cyber bullying. Over the years, there has been a proliferation of cyber bullying crimes worldwide. Cyber bullying is â€Å"bullying through email, instant messaging (IMing), chat room exchanges, Web site posts, or digital messages or images send to a cellular phone or personal digital assistant (PDA)† (Hazelden Foundation, n.d.). Cyber bullying involves online harassment which has become more severe through the years sometimes even the cause of some suicides among teenagers. Electronic Monitoring of Employees One of the offshoots of the advancement in information technology is the growth in the extent of workplace monitoring in several companies. Software such as Websense, SurfControl, SmartFilter and Xora have sprung up as corporations saw the need to monitor employees in the workplace. These software make it easy for m anagement to monitor the computer, internet or email use of the employees. A software like Xora can even go as far as monitoring an employee’s whereabouts through GPS technology on their company’s mobile phones (Dell & Cullen, 2006). According to sellers of Web and email monitoring software, employee productivity, corporate liability and bandwidth limitations are the major reasons why workplace monitoring is implemented by corporations (Lemos, 2001). In a study by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute, it was revealed that 76% of employers