1.

Ethics : General Overview

Professionalism and Ethics in
Information Technology
12/2/2013
Material in this lecture is adopted from the
book Etika Komputer written by Teguh
Wahyono, Andi Ofset 2006 Chapter 1
The Nature of Human Being
The most perfect creation of God
Posseses analytical mind
Senses/Feelings
Will
Human being is able to chose, at will, between
the right or wrong things
Bounded by its environment
Behavioral aspect of human


1.1. Definition of Ethics
Dictionary of Indonesia Language
The science of good and bad
Collection of principles related to behavior
Values about right or wrong according to the society
Ethics come from the word ethos (greek), meaning cultures,
best practices related to good things
Professor Robert Salomon :
Ethics reflect individual character, ethical person = good
person
Ethics is social law. It governs, controls and limits
individual behavior


Definition of Ethics-continued
Ethics then, is believed to be studied further
(Fagothey-1953)
Ethics is a study of humans will (kehendak manusia),
related to the decision to be taken, either right or
wrong
Sumaryono (1995) elaborates further, stating that
ethics is a study about true or false according to
human destiny (kodrat manusia), realized in human to
carry-out his/her will

1.2 Ethics, Philosophy and Science




Sc
Science
Philosophy
Ethics
Relation between Ethics, Philosophy and Science
Philosophy
Abdul Kadir (2001), classify philosophy further:

1. Intellectual activities
Philosophy needs intellectual ability
2. Seeking for the truth (makna hakiki)
3. Facts and symptoms (fakta dan gejala)
4. With systematic methods and reflections
5. For the sake of the happiness of human beings
Ethics
Ethics is a part of philosophy, the philosophy of morality
Ethics studies about the good and bad/evils
As a part of science, Ethics is a study of humans will to make
decision makings, which will influence the relationship
between human beings
Beside that, Ethics is a study of moral values which enables
freedom caused by human consciousness, without being
forced/compelled
Ethics and Morality
Some people belief they are the same (ethics and morality),
some others belief they are different


1.3 Ethics, Moral and Norms of Life
Moral comes from Greeks word mos, meaning
usual practices in community, best or good
practices
A person is said to have no morality ( a moral) if he
or she acts outside or opposed to the best practices of
the community
Ethics covers wide area of knowledge, including
psychology, sosiology, anthropology, cultures,
philosophy of science, even political science
Ethics, Moral and Norms of Life
Lawrence Konhberg, points out six (6) steps of moral
development which have relations with ethics
1. Oriented towards punishment, reward, physical strength
and materials
2. Hedonistic interpersonal relation
3. Conformity oriented (anak manis)
4. Authority oriented
5. Social contract oriented ( persamaan gender dihormati,
nilai-nilai lain berlandaskan faktor sosial dihargai)
6. Inner feelings/hearts oriented (hati nurani)

Ethics, Moral and Norms of Life
Soni Keraff (1991) stated that : morality is a value
system guiding us on how to live in a good way as a
human being
Frans Magnis Suseno (1987) agrees with that notion:
ethics is science not dogma (ajaran)
morality teaches human being to develop norms



Relation between Ethics and Moral
Ethics
Moral

Ethics
Moral
Ethics Violation and Law
Factors contributing to unethical Acts

1. The need of an individual
e.g. Corruption
2. No (ethical) guide
3. Behavior and indvidual practices
4. Unethical environments
5. The influence of authority/supervisor/leader
Ethics Violation and Law
Sanction (sangsi) on unethical behavior or conduct
1. Social sanction or social punishment
2. Legal sanction
3. Diciplinary sanction




Ethics
Law
= Law
Ethics
Moral
Moral
Moral
1.5 Development of Ethics in Society
There is a strong relation between ethics and norms in society.
It develops to :
1. Descriptive ethics
2. Normative ethics

Soni Keraf (1991) points out further about norms (norma)
1. The norms of well behave (sopan santun)
2. Norms of Law/legal, the norms government by law
3. The norms of moral, determines the ones behavior
in society


Development of Ethics in Society

Ethics and Technology : Future Challenges
Factors should be considered with regard to ethics in the ever
developing technology :

1. The advancement of technology (computers), create
paradigm shift in human life
automated processes (opens the opportunity for crimes)
the interconnection of world (internet) opens new
challenges to competitive business, education and other
practices
2. The development of human minds (mindset paradigm
shift)
Ethics, Moral, and Law :
Our/common Understanding
Mohon jangan bersendawa
sehabis makan malam di Istana
Sewaktu UTS berlangsung,
peserta dilarang berbicara (SK
Dekan FTUI no)
Dilarang berbuat a-susila di taman
ini (Perda DKI no )
Dilarang mengutip tulisan
pengarang tanpa menyebutkan
sumbernya (SK Rektor ttg
Plagiarisme no )
Dilarang kencing didepan pintu
ini !



Dokter tidak dapat melakukan
tindakan medis tanpa izin pasien
Ahli teknik dalam proyek ini
harus bersertifikat sesuai
bidangnya
Pemrogram diwajibkan membuat
program sesuai spesifikasi
Seseorang tidak diperkenankan
memasuki direktori milik orang
lain tanpa izin
Pemrogram tidak diizinkan untuk
membuat dan menyebar program
yang dapat merusak arsip orang
lain



Case Study : The Computer Worm
Practically, the first case of computer virus attack
known so far, designed by Robert T. Morris, Jr
(RTM)
Background :
RTM as a graduate student of Cornell University (Comp.
Science Department) created a worm software that eats up
memory space of computers on the networks
Take the advantage of weaknesses BSD 4.3 Unix OS
A unique software, able to reproduce itself and be
active by itself upon arrival at a new
environment/computer
Taken from Deborah Johnson &
Weizenbaum : Computers Ethivcs and
Social Values
Robert T. Morris, Jr
RTM was the son of RTM Sr, a highly respected of
computer scientist of The National Security Center.
RTM Sr is known as the experts of computer break-
ins
26 six years worked in Bell Lab and on the the three
designers of virus game the Core War
RTM Sr testified before the congress years before that
incident that it is a good omen for young computer
scientist to master the skill of writing computer
viruses
Case Study : The Computer Worm-cont
Results :
Many computers on the net, work slower and at the end it
crashed
No files or others data are corrupted
The worm at that time was unstopable and it impacted up
to 6000 computers, some crashed some others slowed down
significantly
The operation of thousands of computers were halted ,
caused significant loss of time and other opportunities

Case Study : The Computer Worm-cont
Mitigation AttempT
No attemp by RTM to halt the worm spreading, and he
didnt inform anybody about the worm

Violation of computer abuse Policies
Cornell prohibits the use of computers facilities for
browsing thru private computer files, encrypting/decrypting
materials and obtaining unauthorized user privilleges (all
three are violated)
RTM was given the policy but he didnt read it

The Computer Worm : Ethical Violation?
Intent
Most probably he did not intend for the worm to destroy
Most probably RTM intended the Worm to spread widely.
He took steps to design the Worm that way
No evident that RTM intended the Worm to replicate
uncontrollably
No hardware damages, or software wrecked, or security
compromized
There was no strong intention of RTM to harm
others people property
The only wrong act was negligence or reckless

The Computer Worm : Ethical Violation?
Security attitude and knowledge
This appears to uncharacteristic act for RTM , in
particular while he was an undergraduate student at
Harvard University
Harvard also prohibited the use of computing facilites to
distribute and replicate such Worm RTM was found
guilty as a professional in this case. This appears that
security flaws in UNIX (trap doors) were exploited
independently by RTM
UNIX community was not firm to report such weaknesses

The Computer Worm : Ethical Violation?
Technical Sophistication
Although the Worm was a sophisticated software, its
creation required dedication and perserverance rather
than brilliance. Worm could be developed by many
students in Cornell and else where

Cornell Involvement
No strong evident of that, RTM notified another
student that he found security weaknesses in UNIX
(just that)
The Computer Worm : Ethical Violation?
Ethical Consideration
Students oppinions varies, from admiration to
condemnation. The computer professionals seems far
less tolerant

Community sentiments
Favor strong disciplinary measures for perpetrators of
act of this kind
The Computer Worm : Ethical Violation?
Cornells policies and practices are comparable to
other university nation wide
Cornell has policy on computer abuse and security
that apply to its central facilities, not departemental
facilities
They sure need a university wide policy that protects
computer abuse and security
The IT vice president is asked to form a commitee

Another Case : The Burleson Revenge
Sept. 21, 1985 employee of USPA & IRS, a brokerage house
and insurance company in Fort Worth, Texas discovered that
168,000 records of sales commission had vanished without a
trace.
The only unusual fact was that somebody had an unusual
entry to the computer system at 03.00 AM.
At Weekends, the MIS crew restored the data from back-up
tapes
Monday morning, an employee found out that the computer
system is inoperable or crashed
After a long and suffering works, the audit trail team found out
that a command in the system could bring the system to
power down.
This command could be initiated by a knowledgeable person
Later, a person known as Donald Gene Burlesson, an
arrogant, rebellious against the authority; a superbly
skilled programmer, indicted as the the one who abused the
computer for a wrong doing
He was found guilty of altering, damaging, destroying data,
causing computer to malfunction
He was fined 11,800 US $ and sentenced to seven years in
probation
Another Case : The Burleson Revenge-cont
Homework
Find a video that discuss the ethical issues in
IT
Discuss your opinion in 1 page submitted
paper (print) and upload to scele