Cybersecurity Ethics

This course examines 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 cyberwarfare. Students will gain a broad understanding of central issues in cyberethics and the ways that fundamental ethical theories relate to these core issues.

Course Material

Over the past semester I have learned vast amount of information relating to Cyber Philosophy. Information warfare, Whistleblowing, and Cyberconflict are topics that I have learned a lot about this past semester. Information Warfare, most recent and favorite topic, is something I learned a lot about. Additionally, topics like Whistleblowing and Cyberconflicts are topics that I learned an interesting perspective from with people like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning being the forefront of Whistleblowers in the United States. The Cyberconflicts module gave me an interesting insight to the Cyberconflict between Israel-Iran. All in all, these three topics gave me perspectives and insights on their respective debates and issues.

The Information Warfare module gave me insights on how Social Media platforms have the power to sway Governmental elections. Before I read into this module, I believed that the Presidential Election in 2016 wasn’t really influenced by State-Actors like the Russians, or Non-State actors like Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) running these campaigns. After reading this module it blew me away that organizations like Facebook, Twitter, etc. allowed for these Information Warfare Campaigns to take place on their platform and initially had a complete disregard for what was occurring. One of my biggest takeaways from this module was that online Social Media Platforms have a obligation to moderate and prevent these campaigns from taking place.

Another topic that I engaged with this past semester is Whistleblowing. In the past, I have read about Whistle blowing and the most famous whistleblowers like Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden. After the whistleblowing module, something that I learned more about was how whistleblowing can be considered an act of loyalty towards that organization so they can approve. This point resonated with me after completing this module and made me re-think that organizations that support in-house whistleblowing are open to hear about unethical behavior occurring within their organization. Overall, my biggest takeaway from this module was the fact that organizations are open to hear about unethical behavior and that the Cyber-Realm is moderated more than it was in the early 2010’s.

Another topic I have engaged with from this course was cyber-conflict. Throughout this topic, I have engaged with different perspectives on cyber conflicts, including state-sponsored hacking, cyber espionage, and cyber terrorism. Additionally, I learned that cyber-conflicts have devasting consequences and can result in significant economic and social economic consequences for an entire nation. One insight that I gained was that cyber conflicts are not limited to nation-states, and non-state actors such as hacktivists and cybercriminals can cause significant damage. My takeaway from this course is that cyber conflicts are increasingly becoming a part of international relations and that governments need to invest in developing robust cybersecurity measures to prevent them. I also learned that individuals must take an active role in protecting their online identities and data, and that raising awareness about cybersecurity is critical to mitigating the impact of cyber conflicts.

In conclusion, Information Warfare, Whistleblowing, and Cyber-Conflict have given me new insights on the Cyber Realm. These topics provided me with a deeper understanding and insights into the debates and issues surrounding them. The Information Warfare module was particularly eye-opening in revealing the power that social media platforms have in swaying elections and the responsibility they have in moderating and preventing such campaigns. Overall, this course has increased my knowledge and understanding of the cyber philosophy and the importance of cybersecurity in today’s digital age.