Cybersecurity Ethics

Reflective Essay

For this Course, we have studied and researched multiple topics in order to gain a more ethical look at the study of cybersecurity itself. With Technology advancing at an alarming rate, it is hard to deny its relevance. There were some topics that stood out to me, which I realized are important for me to understand regarding my future field of study. The discussion of privacy, professional ethics, and whistle blowing helped me gain more insight which I can use when I am in my career. Dealing with privacy, it was exciting to learn how advanced we have become globally, but it bothered me how behind America is as a country. Europe is more advanced when it comes to privacy laws. They are which I believe to be ethical laws in place regarding privacy. The idea of privacy is a much deeper concept, than the first amendment. Since technology is evolving, privacy is much harder to protect since we are using different software systems in order to complete everyday transactions. These different types of software can store our private information forever, companies can use them to sell our data to third party entities, or the system can be compromised putting us at risk. I think that the United States should take our privacy and data consumer laws more seriously, or we will have more lawsuits and issues in the near future. There should be a framework or guideline required for companies to follow to ensure that every citizen is protected. We should be able to trust the government, and trust that our information is being collected and stored with our best interest. 

The discussion about whistleblowing also enlightened me to inquire a different point of view. Before, I felt like if an individual decided to be a whistle blower, then they basically have no sense of loyalty, the situation is always negative, or they is always negative, or they simply do not believe in keeping secrets. There actually have been good causes of whistleblowing, for example the Manning case regarding the Wikileaks video. She leaked a video that sparked outrage and global discussion, but it also caused a reason for there to be a new solution on how we engage in warfare. The laws were lost, causing a situation like the one recorded to take place. It actually takes courage, loyalty, and a good moral compass, in some cases for a person to be a whistleblower. Manning was bold to leak the tapes, but she did it for a good cause. Whistleblowing will always be a controversial topic because it depends on the person’s personal view to decided if they feel like it was morally right or not. Every situation is different, but I feel confident to know that if I was to ever find myself in that situation then I should do the right thing. I would not be the first person to be called a whistleblower, nor will I be the last. Everybody also will not agree with my actions neither, but if I am doing it for the right reasons and can justify it by at least one of the ethical theories we learned, then I will be fine!

Lastly, going through this course I learned the importance of professional ethics and technology. Working with technology on software systems to code, hack, or monitor; we are not in front of our consumers every day. It is easy to lose that sense moral compassion since we aren’t face to face with our clients. The line of ethics and “doing your job” can easily become blurry. It may be hard to decide if our loyalty lies with the company or consumer. I think that discussion of professional ethics should be a training course required by all organizations to be educated on. There are many readings about ethical codes and frameworks that we can continue to study so that we make sure that we are acting in an ethical way to complete our daily jobs. The story about Bill Sourer, really touched me! I think that his scenario has occurred more than often, and it should continue being studied on. Companies can easily rigg or manipulate consumers into purchasing something online because we don’t have that same old-school or face to face obligation anymore. It is sad to say that the world revolves around money, and this ideology spills into our morals and actions. I hope that we continue as individuals to ensure that we are acting and making the best ethical decisions. When I begin my career, I want to make sure my job is aligning with my moral values and core beliefs. I hope to never find myself doing something unethical “for the money” or because I feel like I owe it to my company. I want to be able feel that my job is bettering the society, and I am protecting my consumers at the same time. I feel like that is my first responsibility as somebody who will soon be a professional in the information technology field.