Introduction
Ethics are beliefs that deal with the determination of what is right or wrong and good or bad (Suresh, 2005). Ethical and social issues are everywhere, whether at home or at the workplace, for example most people may believe sitting on the computer cannot raise any ethical issues, but really it can, just by sitting at your very own personal computer you can raise an ethical issue (Suresh, 2005).
The two articles that I have chosen, explains how knowledge, power and Information technology can be an ethical and social factor. The first article talks about how hackers (professional programmers) can impact the cyber world and how cyber crime exists (Nataliya, 2005). The second article explores the idea of teaching students how to hack at a professional level and outlining ways in which university computer security programs can help prevent misuse of information and skills acquired in their teaching programs (Brian, 2006).
Summary of Article 1
This article concentrates on the aspects of cybercrime and the definition of different hackers on the web. Over the years, Hacking has become a widespread problem and an ethical issue in the digital world (Brian, 2006). Hackers can be anyone from a school student to a malicious criminal (Brian, 2006). Hackers disobey the laws for a number of reasons, from less harmful to more serious. Hackers do it because they know they can, they like the challenge, they experience a thrill when doing illegal activities and not getting caught, they seek publicity, they want revenge, and lastly, they are getting paid (Nataliya, 2005).
With the increase of hackers every year, privacy and ethical behavior play more of an important role in businesses (Nataliya, 2005). Being ethical is compulsory in every career field, but is very important in security related areas. This is why Information technology professionals in the past years are required to enhance their skills to use computer mechanisms to secure data transactions and restrict unauthorized data access (Nataliya, 2005). Some information technology professionals however, may disobey and use their abilities to harm the society such as finding vulnerabilities in companies' systems, attacking them, creating and distributing viruses and spywares, and finding ways to avoid payments from their services (Nataliya, 2005). This is a criminal act and can lead to serious offense (Nataliya, 2005). Information technology professionals must behave ethically and follow a set of ethical principles, which are based on moral values (Suresh, 2005).
Hackers can be categorized as an ethical hacker or an unethical hacker:
Ethical hackers are also known as "White Hats" uses their ability in an ethical manner to hack (Brian, 2005). They use their ability to prevent unauthorized access, damage to computer data or programs, and unauthorized interception of data within a system or network done by unethical hackers (Nataliya, 2005). Ethical hackers could be employees (penetration tester) who are given permission to attack a company's network in order to determine its weaknesses. They could also help society by using their skills in the name of national security to investigate and solve crimes (Nataliya, 2005).
Unethical hackers, also known as "Black Hats" are highly skilled hackers who use their ability in an unethical way. They use their talent for many reasons such as extortion and fraudulent acts by illegally accessing confidential information stored on computer systems (Nataliya, 2005). Hackers can exploit a network by installing an undetectable back door that determines the network vulnerabilities and then erases its trace after successfully installing into the system. If successful unethical hackers will post their hacking methods on hacker's newsgroups with information about companies' weak security and persuading other hackers to exploit them (Brian, 2006).
By combining them all together we can classify them as computer enthusiast, who enjoys learning programming languages and computer systems (Nataliya, 2005). They are very talented programmer, who had their skills and knowledge mastered in making computers and software to do more than what the original designer can imagine (Nataliya, 2005).
Summary of Article 2
The second article focuses on the practices of hacking and ethical hacking, as well as discussing the ethical nature of teaching computer students how to hack ethically in attempt to strengthen their skills in the field of information security at a university level (Brian, 2006).
Practice of hacking without malicious intent can be defined as ethical hacking. "Before one can clearly understand it means to be an ethical hacker, the concept of hacking must be defined" (Brian, 2006, p.197). By understanding how to hack, an ethical hacker must understand the flaws of a system and determine where in a system an unethical hacker might attempt to attack (Brian, 2006). Ethical hackers compared to unethical hackers utilize the same tools and techniques, but instead, they are not damaging the targeted systems or stealing information, they are only evaluating the systems security network and vulnerabilities.
An effective component of ethical hacking would be teaching students to hack in an efficient way such as identifying the company's network weaknesses and preventing malicious attacks. This effective component will provide students with an important skill as they move into the professional industry where network security is vital. Universities must provide their students with access to real networks with real skills to enhance their hands-on experiences, so they can not only strengthen their understanding, but also appreciate what they have learnt and how they can use their skills in an ethical manner (Brian, 2006).
Computer security programs cannot assume that their students are naturally ethical or knowledgeable, therefore, teachers and professors have to realize that the likelihood of their students to commit malevolent act can be very high (Brian, 2006). Computing students who are becoming professionals must learn to behave ethically through their teachers, professors, or other professionals. Practical guidelines for ethical behavior must be acknowledged and informed by the university or any other educational institutions to prevent students from using their knowledge in a negative ways (Suresh, 2005).
Overall, ethical hacking is a useful and critical component of computer security programs at universities. Training in computer security is intended to improve information security in general as well as educating professionals (Brian, 2006).
Evaluation of Article 1 and 2
