The Ethics for IT professionals

Question: What are The Ethics for IT professionals? Answer: Introduction The more important information technology is getting to our lives, the more ethical challenges it is facing. As the market of information technology is emerging, the experts of information technology are afraid of the fact that how they are going to face these challenges. Nowadays, information technology is facing many ethical challenges that are: lack of privacy, security, copyright issues and hacking. The ethical issues prevailing in the market have stimulated the criminals for exploiting the users based on the loopholes left in these technologies. As information technology is speeding the access and information flow, many of the organizations are coming at risk of losing their secured data because of criminals who can easily tap in their situations for personal usage. Unfaithful employees can utilize information technology for achieving their goals that might harm the company. In this report, we will be discussing the ethical issue faced by people and organization in the face of h acking(Chang, 2004). Hacking and Hackers According to Sukhai (2004), Hackers are the people that break into and hacks into anyones system for their personal benefit. The terminology of hacking is considered as critical, for many reasons, like the wish of damaging the system or the wish for understanding how the system works, for making their money. In addition to it, the hackers might have the desire of alerting people towards the fact that system is insecure and requires improvement. Because of this, some people argue that there might be cases, which we can consider as hackers ethics(Pashel, 2006). The concept of hacking is better understood by saying that victims feel that someone is sitting behind their computer and is noticing every single activity they do on their electronic device. It will not be wrong, if we will say that hackers are criminals and make individuals and companies lose their time and money (Sukhai, 2004). Implications of ethical issues for people and for technological practices Individuals According to the research of Palmer (2001), hacking results into loss of data because of files being deleted. Information of customer and information of order can be stolen and deleted. Sometimes, the hackers can post information from the government organization online, which can cause unrest. An individual can lose his savings to an unknown person and can even notice changes in their financial figures because of the hacking theft. Often we see in newspapers that customers are getting angry because their financial information gets hacked and because of that, they lose their savings. A virus was considered the major challenge in the history of risks of a computer, but at present virus is a secondary issue as hacking has gained popularity. Hackers use tricks for getting the secret information of the users and thereafter they use such information for their personal benefits (Palmer, 2001). Organizations Pashel (2006) feels that when the hackers gain access for computer, they can view everything on the computer. There is a risk of losing much more than money as most of our information has moved online nowadays. The implication for organizations may be devastating. Hackers can easily affect the performance of other employees by hacking their computers and making their speed slow. Such practice can affect the performance of employee being targeted. On a large scale, hackers can hack secret information of company for their personal benefit. Such loss to the company can affect its brand image and financial conditions. Implications As criminal activities of hackers are increasing in todays era, so it would be advisable to the individuals and companies to use some software that can prevent their electronic devices being hacked. Organizations can hire security experts in their organization for making them aware of the security thefts and preventing the secured data of company from being hacked. In simple words, it can be said that companies have to secure their data with the help of security experts and software for fighting the hackers and their criminal activities. Simple software and a virus detector will not be sufficient for the organization to fight against hackers(EY, 2013). Conclusion It is quite evident from the information discussed above that hacking is a critical ethical issue faced by information technology professionals nowadays. Nowadays anyone can easily hack the digital device, by the usage of advanced technologies in market and web enabled devices. Until and unless more regulations will be placed for stopping these digital criminal activities, people are going to face ethical issues around the world and these issues will rise day by day. References Chang, J. V. (2004). Computer Hacking: Making the Case for a National Reporting Requirement. The Berkman Center for Internet Society Research Publication Series.(2013). Cyber hacking and information security: mining and metals. Global Information Security Survey. Palmer, C. C. (2001). Ethical hacking. IBM Systems Journal, 40. Pashel, B. A. (2006). Teaching Students to Hack: Ethical Implications in Teaching Students to Hack at the University Level . InfoSecCD Conference. Sukhai, N. B. (2004). Hacking And Cybercrime . InfoSecCD Conference.