How has cyber technology created opportunities for workplace deviance?

       Work place deviance in a context of Cybersecurity environment can be defined as a worker’s deliberate or intentional desire to cause harm to a technology organization which he/she is employed in. It’s a voluntary act of behavior which violates the business rules, norms and policies which have a potential of causing damage to the business. Cyber technology can be considered a suitable ground for workplace deviance incidents for these reasons. 

  1. Cyber technology is by its nature a data and information resource environment. The prospect of employee’s ability and given authority to modify, edit, delete, alter and store data and information can create an atmosphere for system manipulation and workplace deviance when the employee feels unhappy or decided to leave the organization.
  2. Data and information as we all know now are the 21st century new-oil. Data and information are so much valuable so, unhappy employee with his pay-check can sell data and information from his organization. Whether it’s a customer’s information or the organization’s operational plan an employee who is in this mood of workplace deviance can benefit some financial gain on the cost of organization’s security and privacy breaches.
  3. Cyber technology unlike the physical world is a hard to trace environment. Data and information stolen by employee or a security issues created by an employee who knows the system gateway and can even go as far as selling or providing password to external entities to help them overpass some security layers may stay unknown for longtime, especially to associate it to a single employee, if ever discovered. For example a casher of clerk who can be monitored in camera surveillance in the physical world is not the case in the cyber technology environment. In contrary, a cyber-technology employee is allowed to work from home without any concern of someone’s watch. This environment will definitely fail to deter a workplace deviance for an employee who has the motive to harm the organization.    

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