Ethical Theories The Cyber Space Activity †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Ethical Theories Of The Cyber Space Activity? Answer: Introducation Cybercrime, also referred to as computer crime is any illegal activity that is carried out with the use of a computer or any device that can be used to access the internet, such as a mobile phone. The department of Justice has categorized cybercrime into three categories: crimes where the computer is employed as the weapon, crimes which involves the computer itself as the target and also where the computer has been used as an accessory to crime The internet has been the biggest invention ever since printing, and the more it has spread, cybercrime has also spread with the same magnitude, since a person does not now need to be present physically to commit a crime in a certain place. The internet also avails speed, anonymity, a borderless scope and convenience all which makes crime easier to carry out (("Cybercrime", 2017). Cybercrime can be explained in relation to classical ethical theory. To begin with, deontology holds that the actions of people are to be guided by moral laws; which are universal. Deontological ethics are drawn from the philosophy of Kants categorical imperative. He proposed that for an ethical school to appeal to all rational people, it had to be based on the reasoning of a rational person ("The Cambridge handbook of information and computer ethics", 2010). It is duty ethics, the actions of any individual are seen as performance of duty to act ethically towards other internet users, or the following of the rules laid down by country. Therefore, according to deontology, it was wrong for Mr. Tabalbag to use a phishing app to obtain information illegally from his wifes phone. This is clearly phone hacking because he used an app to gain unauthorized access to his wifes deleted messages and phone bills. Mr. Tabalbag in his use of the internet violated the duty a person has towards other cyber users and the state. He committed a cybercrime, because he used a computer and his phone as the tools in harming other people, his wife and her lover. Utilitarianism holds that the end justifies the means; that the right action is the one that will produce the greatest happiness or the best. Rule utilitarianism leads us to adopting the moral rules that would produce happiness if they were followed by everyone, while act utilitarianism leads us to do those actions that produce more happiness than unhappiness (Driver, 2017). Ethical hackers use their skill to benefit the society, thus it would be legal under utilitarian principles, Ethical hacking has been of tremendous benefit to many organizations. For instance, it has helped to strengthen national security.it has been used by the united states air force to evaluate their operating system; which is a contribution to the fight against terrorism and external threats. IBM also uses ethical hackers to keep their systems and those of their clients secure (Chao, 2017). Mr. Tabalbag did use a sort of a phishing app that could retrieve the deleted messages and phone bills of his partner. H e was suspicious that his wife was having an affair and the information he got helped him to catch her right in the act, so in a sense, the end justified the means. There are still some grey areas however. Despite the end justifying the means, his actions did not lead to happiness. If every suspicious spouse followed his cause of action many lovers affairs would be exposed, with several fatalities as in this case. It is hard to determine, now that Mr. Tabalbag actions of hacking into his wifes phone, and used another app to stalk her, whether he ended up happy or unhappier, now that he is in prison for manslaughter. Virtue ethics are normative ethical theories that are weighted on the virtues of mind and character. Ethics should thus be concerned with the character that is displayed by a moral agent, rather than the rules that are dictating what is right and what is wrong. According to Aristotle, a virtuous person is that person who has ideal character traits. He will display kindness across many situations because it is in their character to do so, rather than being in search of recognition or maximizing utility. Rules are hard to establish and the consequences are harder to perceive in cyberspace. Virtue ethics are therefore aimed at producing citizens that are digitally wise and will as a result be able to supervise their online activities. According to Aristotle these virtues cannot be taught theoretically, rather they can be learnt through experience, practice and the development of practical wisdom, which he referred to as phronesis.in cyberspace, they would be cyber prognosis, which would be implemented by students, parents, teachers and other stakeholders in the digital world ("Virtue Ethics | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy", 2017). Thinking in the lines of virtual ethics, most cybercrime activities are wrong, because they reflect a weakness in character. If Mr. Tabalbag did not practice cyber prognosis, he went out of his way to gain unauthorized access to his wifes phone billing information and deleted text messages, which is not the behaviour that a virtuous user of the internet would exhibit. His aim was to maximize his utility; to catch his wife in the act. virtue ethics are aimed at producing people that are digitally wise, which was not reflected at all in his stalking and hacking tendencies.it is indeed important for virtue ethics to be taught to internet users, because had Mr. Tabalbag been bit more digitally wise, he would not have ended up with a murder, later reduced to manslaughter conviction. The contract theory states that there is an implicit social contract between that citizen and the country and the state that he lives and as a result that that citizen is obliged to abide by the moral and the legal issues of the state even if he would rather not. The social contract line if thought was mainly propagated by Thomas Hobbes. He theorized a situation where there was no law governing the society, where each person was free in every state of nature. He observed that though it would be a pleasant thing, people are motivated by their own self-interests, and the world would turn into a very unpleasant place. the solution would be therefore for each person to give up some of their absolute freedom and in exchange each person would give up an equal measure of their freedom ("Phil 2800 - 3 Ethical Theories", 2017). Phone hacking is the practice of manipulating or gaining unauthorized access to mobile phones. It is the use of telephone technology to steal information, which is wha t Mr. Tabalbag did, which is illegal. It is an illegal invasion of privacy. Phone hacking is covered in the law that regulates phone tapping and other ways of gathering information. It is an offence to gain information that is stored in information system, without a search warrant and or production order which has to be approved by a judge (Davies, 2017). There are other avenues that Mr. Tabalbag could have exploited to obtain information on his wifes account. He could have called the service provider and asking for a breakdown of texts and numbers called by his wife using his own phone account. Tracking a user using their cellphone is not illegal, but if the information is used in an abusive manner it becomes stalking and it is illegal. It would have been better if Mr. Tabalbag had informed his wife that he would be tracking his movements, given he had already voiced his suspicion that way, issues of privacy would not have emerged ("Cell Phone Monitoring: Is Mobile Surveillance Leg al?", 2017). Clearly cybercrime and privacy infringement do not only affect a society online. The consequences affect a society in their day to day lives. There is need for continual review of legislation to tame these vices as their scope widens with the spread in technology References Cell Phone Monitoring: Is Mobile Surveillance Legal?. (2017).TopTenReviews. Retrieved 11 September 2017, from https://www.toptenreviews.com/software/articles/cell-phone-monitoring-is-mobile-surveillance-legal/ Chao, O. (2017).Ethical Hacking ethical or unethical | IS1103 GRP 202.Blog.nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 11 September 2017, from https://blog.nus.edu.sg/is1103grp202/2012/09/11/ethical-hacking-ethical-or-unethical/ Cybercrime. (2017).Tech Target. Retrieved 11 September 2017, from )https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/cybercrime Davies, N. (2017).The law on phone hacking and private data.the Guardian. Retrieved 11 September 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jul/08/ripa-phone-hacking-law Driver, J. (2017).The History of Utilitarianism.Plato.stanford.edu. Retrieved 11 September 2017, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/ Phil 2800 - 3 Ethical Theories. (2017).Ucs.mun.ca. Retrieved 11 September 2017, from https://www.ucs.mun.ca/~alatus/2800a/3EthicalTheories.html The Cambridge handbook of information and computer ethics. (2010).Choice Reviews Online,48(03), 48-1520-48-1520. https://dx.doi.org/10.5860/choice.48-1520 Virtue Ethics | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2017).Iep.utm.edu. Retrieved 11 September 2017, from https://www.iep.utm.edu/virtue/