Ethical Dilemmas of Information Technology

Ethical Dilemmas of Information Technology
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Ethical Dilemmas of Information Technology
Introduction
Computer crimes refer to illegal activities that are carried out by individuals using a computer. Such activities include online harassment, sabotage, financial fraud, and theft. Computer crimes have negative impacts on businesses, especially those that are online-based or use internet in their operations. The most affected are small companies that are unable to set up proper security measures to mitigate these crimes.
Companies are vulnerable to computer crimes. This is because once attacked, the criminals can compromise the business and greatly influence the operations of the organization. Small companies are the most affected because they do not invest in proper security systems to help protect their data from being exploited. The internet acts as an important driver of economic development. However, because of the dependence on cyberspace, companies have become more vulnerable to breaches on their information security (Arcuri, Brogi & Gandolfi, 2017). The amount of money lost in the global economy as a result of cybercrime sums up to approximately $450 billion every year. This amount of money is higher than Microsoft Inc’s market capitalization (Arcuri, Brogi & Gandolfi, 2017). Such information is necessary in understanding the impact of computer crimes and the investment levels of information security activities.
Individuals who are involved in computer crimes are motivated by hatred, financial gains, and the need to harass the company. Hatred can arise for many reasons, For instance, hacktivists and anarchists tend to launch attacks on target organizations despite their nature (Li, 2017). These attacks are meant to weaken the social priorities of the company or organization being attacked. Moreover, competitors can also organize attacks on other companies as a means of weakening their competitors. The wide use of information systems in the financial sector also motivates hackers to take part in computer crimes. The information obtained from these illegal activities can be sold to interested parties or even used for obtaining ransom. The perpetrators steal the information, and blackmail the company ...