Answer To: 1 | P a g e ACCG886 Cybersecurity, Governance Frameworks and Ethics Ethical Dilemmas for...
Abhinaba answered on May 10 2021
ETHICAL DILEMMA FOR CYBERSECURITY EXPERTS
Executive Summary
In this report the major focus is scheduled upon the ethical concerns and the issues related to the cybersecurity. In the article the conference paper which is selected depicts the ethical issues related to the cybersecurity in the Australian SME. And in the context of the conference paper selected an article is also taken into consideration that focuses on the issues faced by the cybersecurity practitioners in consideration of the ethical dilemma. This article focuses on the issues pertaining in the Australian SME. Further the ethical issues related to the Australian SME, ACM code of ethics and the measures to deal are also listed. The report takes into consideration several aspects regarding the cybersecurity whether it is the COBIT 2019 or the ACM code of ethics. At the end some possible steps are provided that the organizations can use to resolve the ethical dilemma.
Table of Contents
Introduction 4
Ethical Issues in Cybersecurity 5
Confidentiality 5
Security 5
The Ethics of Whistleblowing 6
Artificial Intelligence 6
Block chain 7
Internet of Things (IoT) 7
Quantum Computing 7
Ethical Issues Related to Cybersecurity in Australian SMEs 7
Harm to Privacy 8
Harm to Property 8
Cybersecurity Resource Allocation 9
Transparency and Disclosure 9
Cybersecurity Roles, Duties and Interests 10
Unawareness Regarding the Cybersecurity 10
COBIT 2019 11
ACM Code of Ethics 13
Cybersecurity Professionals 17
Conclusion 17
References 19
Introduction
With the growing pace of the internet and networking, the biggest challenge for companies is to maintain cybersecurity. There is an instant and rapid increase in cybercrimes in the business world as well as in normal contexts. Earlier the cybercrimes and the issues related to them used to target the big enterprises but now the small and medium enterprises are also under the same context. With the growing cybercrimes, cybersecurity practitioners also have to face several ethical issues during the tenure they are seeking to create a secure platform for the company. There are enormous ethical issues in cybersecurity it completely depends upon the professionals how well they handle it and the company how deliberately it monitors it. In the conference paper, the ethical issues related to cybersecurity in the Australian SME are discussed which take into context the possible problems outlined there. The ACM codes of ethics are considered immensely valuable in guiding to deal with cyber ethics. Cybersecurity being a high-profile cannot be ignored due to the fact that it can cause a huge monetary as well as reputational loss for the organizations if it is not taken seriously.
Ethical Issues in Cybersecurity
The ethical dilemma in the article is majorly focused upon the point of view of the cybersecurity professionals. The practitioners face several aspects during their duty which they are not able to decide properly whether they should commence it or not. In the Australian SMEs the ethical dilemma is poised over the fact that sometimes the employees commit the mistakes as they are unaware of the fact and sometimes, they commit the mistake due to their incompetency. In the Australian SMEs the cybersecurity is looked by the practitioners and the dilemma faced by them paves the path for the strong or weak cybersecurity within the organizations.
The article selected describes the ethical issues in cybersecurity. As the conference paper depicts the topic of ethical issues related to cybersecurity in the Australian in SME. This article articulates the possible ethical issues in cybersecurity that are faced by the cybersecurity practitioner in the Australian SMEs. This article sheds light on the fact on what are probable dilemmas faced by cybersecurity practitioners within the organizations. As it will help in accessing the most prominent and probable dilemmas and issues.
Confidentiality
As per the article confidentiality is one of the prime ethical dilemmas that is faced by practitioners. As the cybersecurity professional and the practitioners are the one who observes and handle personal, private and proprietary information’s that should be kept as strictly confidential as a part of their job. As a practitioner, they hold on the duty of scanning the hard drive and disk of the party or the business for a virus check in the meanwhile they have the access to several relevant confidential data and information. Several times there is information that is very tempting and if passed on to the competitors could help the practitioner in getting a huge amount. So, avoid such temptations that are professionally unethical is one of the biggest dilemmas for the practitioner in the Australian SMEs (Lezzi, Lazoi, & Corallo, 2018).
Security
Another major ethical dilemma is the security concerns in the Australian SMEs, it may sound unobvious if talking about the cybersecurity practitioner but as a business or a normal people is responsible for the cybersecurity of the data, and the responsibility level of the practitioner in terms of security is huge. A common person can leave their computer unattended or neglected or avoid several scheduled updates and processes but if the same thing is done by the practitioner it could be considered as a severe ethical lapse. They are the ones who always have a dilemma whether they have opted for all the security measures or not correctly (Lorenz & Kikkas, 2020).
The Ethics of Whistleblowing
In the Australian SMEs the ethics of whistleblowing is one of the biggest ethical dilemmas for the practitioner. As if in case if an employee found that an organization is carrying on the business in an unethical manner they can directly report it to the media or law enforcement but if during the security check if a practitioner found something irrelevant and expose it in front of the media or others it would be considered unethical on his job and duty point of view. As he disguised and cheated on the owner as he was given the data for a security check or a correction purpose (Li et al., 2019).
The emerging technologies are underpinning the digital economy by accelerating the growth rate as well as securing the data. Certain emerging technologies are being one of the most important and necessary parts of the organizations interpreting their business. Some of the prime emerging technologies include-
Artificial Intelligence
The SMEs also need to prominently focus upon the emerging new technologies in the sector. Artificial intelligence (AI) has become one of the most popular and widely used technology in the present time that is shaping the digital economy to new heights. AI is considered a very broad term that is eventually used to describe a collection of technologies that helps in solving and performing tasks to achieve certain objectives without much involvement of humans. The AI technique has also strengthened the cybersecurity within the organizations as the systems and the processing in many of the organizations is shaped in the context of the AI. In Australia as well as on the international level there is a considerate effort going on to ensure that AI is applied ethically and delivers broad societal benefits.
Block chain
Block chain is another one of the most important emerging technology that is strengthening the digital economy. It is eventually a digital platform that records, verifies, and stores the transaction that is shared across a network of computers as per the agreed set of rules. It has removed the verification needs that were required by the central authorities. It is one of the most prominent emerging technologies that can be applied across a wide range of industries and in case of any of the transactions that involve a value (Kshetri et al., 2017).
Internet of Things (IoT)
Internet of things that is popularly known as IoT is also one of the most important emerging technologies of the present era contributing to uplifting the digital economy. The IoT refers and points out towards the increasing use of the sensors that inhibit things including the touch, movement, sounds, temperature, and the chemical compositions that are considerably used to collect the data about the people, the environments as well as the objects and transmit the particular information over the internet. The IoT is considerably used in several organizations, industries, and offices as the sensor prominent technology has a growing demand in the market (Lu & Da Xu, 2018).
Quantum Computing
Quantum computing is an emerging technology that is gaining obsolete hike in the countries like Australia and the US. Quantum computing is a technology that would help in increasing the power of the existing computing system. It helps in solving the problems that cannot be resolved by the existing computers. Quantum computing has a wider significance in the scientific field also as scientists’ use it deliberately in several scientific works. Australia is considered as a world leader in silicon-based quantum computing research, which is one of the most viable ways in developing quantum computers. These emerging technologies are giving an enormous pace to the digital economy (Fulkerson et al., 2018).
Ethical Issues Related to Cybersecurity in Australian SMEs
In the selected paper which is about the ethical issues related to cybersecurity in Australian SMEs several issues related to the ethics in cybersecurity and the challenges faced by the SME are discussed. The SME contributes a lot to the economy of a country irrespective of the fact that the business is not on a large and widespread level the SMEs are considered as the backbone of the country’s economy. Cybersecurity maintenance is relatively necessary for both the small level as well as the large-scale businesses.
Some of the important ethical issues in cybersecurity in SMEs are-
Harm to Privacy
As per the article harm to privacy is the most challenging situation for an SME as it is in a growing phase and a little deviation in its data and resources and disrupts its whole process. The most common threat to privacy is identity theft in which the hackers generally portray themselves as persons related to the company or the officials belonging to the company, it not only causes harm to the company in the sense of monetary values but also led to the loss of reputation to the company. The harm to privacy does not only include the data that are online on the company drive but also the offline data as through identity theft the hackers target the company employees, friends their relatives and exchange the information that is available to them and willingly get the information from them as well.
This type of situation also creates immense pressure on the cybersecurity professionals as at the time the companies realize that something unethical is prevailing within the community the hackers have obtained huge information regarding the company which could cost them much (Christen, Gordijn & Loi, 2020).
Harm to Property
The author imposes that the harm to property is not directly targeted by the hackers in terms of the security threats rather it is targeted indirectly through the violations of data privacy and through the mechanisms like extortion. The harm to property includes the demand of misappropriate electronic funds, stealing valuable intellectual property such as trade secrets, or obtaining the bank account numbers and passwords. In the case of the SME, there is a fewer security measure opted in comparison to the big organizations so as a fact they easily get trapped in such traps.
It is very obvious that the unauthorized harm to the property in business is significant ethical harm they often put a person in trouble who relies upon these properties for their living or their business relies on these very measures. With the growing cases of cybercrime, there is also a significant...