This course examined ethical issues relevant to ethics for cybersecurity professionals, including privacy, professional code of conduct, practical conflicts between engineering ethics and business practices, individual and corporate social responsibility, ethical hacking, information warfare, and cyber warfare. I gained a broad understanding of central issues in cyber ethics and the ways that fundamental ethical theories relate to these core issues. I completed this course in Spring of 2022.
Learning about ethical issues in this class has better prepared me for my future jobs in the cybersecurity field. A topic that was discussed in the class was regarding user privacy. We read an article titled “Even Cheating Dirtbags Deserve Privacy,” by Mary Elizabeth Williams. In addition to that we also read other articles about privacy. My thoughts definitely deepened and gave me a better understanding as to why user privacy is so important. I already knew that user privacy was so crucial in the world of technology, but really getting better insight on it turned out to be very beneficial. In the article by Mary Elizabeth Williams, it discussed how even cheaters in our modern world still deserve privacy. On this particular topic, I can say I agree with Williams, but there are certain situations where cheaters do not deserve privacy. Perhaps in the case that they are a cheater, but also a sexual offender or a murderer. This type of information should be given to the public, so that individuals may be aware of who they are living near or are more aware of who a person truly is. Otherwise, I believe that no one should have their information out there for everyone to see. Another topic that was discussed in the class is data ethics. I have always been aware that Facebook has had complications with releasing user data, but reading more about this helped me gain more knowledge that I can share with others. In the articles we reviewed there was a lot of information quite similar to that of the privacy articles we read. User data and clear privacy terms given by companies are super important. This is because every individual on social media websites or other applications alike, should have protection over their user data. Additionally, the mining of individual data without consent is just truly unjust. Something I enjoyed a lot about the course is we were able to focus on how ethical or unethical certain situations are. The last topic I enjoyed learning about is professional ethics. This more closely relates to the work world because it is discussing a code of ethics that cybersecurity professionals follow. An article we read about was titled “The Code I’m Still Ashamed Of,” this had to be my favorite article I read in the class because it discusses that individuals make mistakes and are always able to change. The course involved lots of readings, a discussion board (also known as our case studies), and a case analysis. Overall, I think that each of these assignments benefited me a lot and taught me a lot about some of things I had very little knowledge about. Furthermore, our inclusion of the ethical tools we learned can apply to not only those furthering their work in cybersecurity, but for those to use in everyday life.