Describe four ethical issues that arise when storing electronic information about individuals.
Ethics has always been an interesting topic of discussion because it centers around principles, morals, and integrity. There are many ethical issues faced in the cyber world, too many to list in this small blog. However, the four I think are the more prominent issues are Data Security Breaches, System Implementation Challenges, Privacy and Confidentiality, and Data Integrity Concerns.
- Data and Security Breach Concerns are a compromise of a network or system from an unauthorized user. Unfortunately, these seem to happen frequently around the world. The cause of these infringements is usually caused by unpatched software (leaves known vulnerabilities open for exploitation), Human error (weak passwords, falling for phishing scams), Malware, Insider threat (deliberate intent to damage system), or even Physical security issues (someone stole a laptop). To eradicate this problem, you could implement multi-step authentications, install locked doors to sensitive server rooms, or educate your employees.
- System Implementation Challenges are understanding how the system operates, the software it uses, and how the interface. The problems can stem from the lack of proper resources to store data, waste of resources, or the system is not efficient enough to keep operating. One thing you can do to make sure the system is doing what it expected is to make sure that the interface is working well between your customers, employees, and systems.
- Privacy and Confidentiality is a concern because everyone deserves to have trust that their personal information is being protected. Businesses have an obligation to keep their client’s personal information from unwarranted access. The business should have a policy about what information is kept, who has access, and to keep records of who is accessing the records for later security audits.
- Data Integrity Concerns is when the data on the network is not authentic. This could be caused by many issues stemming from human error, transfer blunders, compromised hardware, or malware. To make sure that this concern is dealt with you should have a plan to back up the information, validate the data, conduct audits, use software that detects anything erroneous.
Sources
Data Breach 101: Top 5 Reasons it Happens | WHOA.com. (2018, October 26). WHOA.com. https://www.whoa.com/data-breach-101-top-5-reasons-it-happens/
Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age). (2019). Gdrc.org. https://www.gdrc.org/info-design/4-ethics.html
Pearlman, S. (2019). What is Data Integrity and Why Is It Important? – Talend. Talend Real-Time Open Source Data Integration Software. https://www.talend.com/resources/what-is-data-integrity/