SUES PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN ENGINEERING

thinking and rituals.

ure O Non-human animals have spirits. They
are to be killed only out of necessity, and
as they atoned for and apologies made to
lad the animal's spirit.
Asian religious emphasize images of
nto unity with nature, which is distinct from both
stewardship and domination.
by Hinduism the predominant religion in India,
of promulgates an ideal of oneness with nature
and the doctrine of ahimsa - non-violence and
ive non-killing
in
5.9 COMPUTER ETHICS
of Computer Ethics is a part of practical
nd philosophy which Concerns with how
es "computing professionals should make
decisions regarding professional and social
conduct.O
"Computer ethics" also has been used to
of refer to a kind of professional ethics in which
e
computer professionals apply codes of ethics
and standards bf good practice within their
profession.
To the extent that engineers design, manufac
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ture, and apply computers, computer ethics is
a branch of engineering ethics.
V In addition, names such as cyber-ethics" and
"Internet ethics" have been used to refer to
computer ethics issues associated with the
f Internet.
When computers first began to be used in
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In these cases PROFD881ONAL ETHIC8 IN ENGINEERING

theft easier to
computers has only made the 3. Hacking
perpetuate, but
the ethical issues does not alter Hackers by which we mean that
involved.
Stealing whether by way of the minority of computer enthusiasts sometime
or simply by sitting in front of atraditional way called "crackers" who compulsively challenge
ethical computer, the
issues and law is not altered. any comnputer security system
Some carry their art to the point of
2. Invasion of privacy implanting "time bombs" or "Trojan horses"
(unwanted Codes that Copy themselves
Privacy = basic right of an individual to
Control access to and use of information about
into large programs) that will «choke
himself.
.. . networks with dead-end tasks, spew out false
information, erase files and even destroy
V Information (individuals or corporate) gained equipment.
without consent is an invasion of privacy. unauthorized
With Gaining acce_s, to
computers, protecting database, implanting false information in a
privacy has become much more
database or altering existing information and
difficult. Records have been computerized,
disseminating viriuses over the internét.
making retrieval of files much easier, it also In most cases of hacking, . hackers
makes the unauthorized retrieval. of this
simply testing and pushing their skills and
information by others easier. knowledge limits.
.

Invasions of privacy can lead toan individual

In extreme cases, secret military information
being harassed or blackmailed
Harassed in the simplest form, repeated phone is illegally accessed which may jeopardize
national security.
calls from,telemarketers who have obtained Altering information may lead to fraud.
information about an individual's spending
habits.
4. Computer viruses
Subtle teasing or bothering from a coworker malware
computer virus is a
who has gained personal knowledge of the that, when executed, replicates
individual.
by reproducing itself or infecting
Personal information is considered as
other programs by modifying them infecting
personal property. This same principle applies Computer programs carn include as well, data
to proprietary information of a corporation.
files, or the boot sector of the hard drive.
Viruses can also replicate themselves. All

GLOBAL ISSUES
computer viruses are man-made. A simple
virus that can make a copy of itself over and
over again is relatively easy to produce.
Issuance of computer viruses may lead
to deaths when hospital records
equipment are compromised, financial ruin
for individuals whose records are wiped
out, or the loss of millions of dollars for
corporations, individuals, taxpayers,
completed.work must be redone.
5.9.2 AUTONOMOUS COMPUTERS
Autonomy refers to the ability of a computer
to make decisions without the intervention
humans.
An autonomous computer responsible for
running a spaceship headed for Jupiter
begins to turn against the humans it was
designed to work for.
Certainly there are applications for which
autonomy is valuable.
O For example: Manufacturing processes
that require monitoring and control at
frequent intervals can greatly benefit
from autonomous computers
Computers in major stock exchanges
Some brokerage and institutional investors
útilized computers that were programmed
to sell stocks automatically under certain
Conditions, among them when prices drop
sharply.
As prices drop computer
automatically start
ENGINEERING
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN
thne prices,
selling stocks, further depressing on
sell, and so
causing other computers to
major market crash.
until there is a
Autonomy of computers also been used
or regard to military weapons.
heavily on
O Many weapons systems rely
computer sensOrs and computer
controls.
as O Due to the speed with which events carn
happen on a modern battlefield, it would
seem valuable to have weapons that can
operate autonomously.
of O Sensors might lead a computer to think
than an enemy has increased its military
activity in a certain area
Autonomous computer can greatly increase
productivity and efficiency in many areas,
ultimately there must be some human control
in order to prevent disasters.
5.93 COMPUTER CODE OF ETHICS
Computer code of ethics is set of moral
principles that regulate the use of computers. Some
common issues of computer code of ethics include
intellectual property rights (such as
ellgctranic content), privacy concernS, copyrighted
and how
computers affect society.
In order to overcome various ethical issues
of çomputer ethics, Computer Society of India has
developed the Ten Commandments' of computer
ethics.
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