Ethical Problems associated to Information Technology Essay Example for Free

Ethical Problems associated to Information Technology Essay Information technology has been continuously booming with new technological products that create a more diverse information environment. There have been dramatic changes associated with the IT, and these changes create ethical problems and upheavals that usually have something to do with ethics. True, there has been technological development in the arena—one that occurs â€Å"when either the technological paradigm is elaborated in terms of improved concepts, theories, and methods, or in instances of the paradigm are improved† (Moor, 2008, p. 27), such as in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and safety. This creates an enormous social impact, and it has led to a technological revolution that considerably takes time and is difficult to predict. Information technology has gone over the introduction stage and the permeation stage. We are on the power stage wherein the technology is readily available, affecting people directly and indirectly. This creates an impact that is superbly enormous; yet, there are always the ethical problems that springs forth in the arena. Ethical problems that surround the self-identity, anonymity, and privacy of a person are always attached when it comes to IT. The technological revolution has a large-scale effect that transforms the society, while affecting the manner in which the society functions (Moor, 2008, p. 29). It is evident that open technological revolutions in open societies still need some enhancements, so that the ethical problems would be controlled and maximized. Main Body There are a number of important issues that surround the technological paradigm of IT, especially in relation to ethics. Some of these are in the form of self-identity, anonymity, as well as privacy. There are also other unethical issues (e. g. , cheating, hacking, wardriving) that are attached to the technological paradigm of IT. Ethical problems in self-identity The self-identity is being constructed according to how the individual interacts with the society and with himself or herself. In the social landscape of modernity, there are numerous major changes in the external social environment that affects the individual during this social transformation. In the age of the IT, people get to have the capacity to reconstruct the universe through the everyday realities and circumstances that take place in their specific worlds. It is a continuous state of affairs that largely creates the self-identity and the personal feelings attached to this paradigm. This new sense of identity are being formed with the intrusion of the IT in a person’s life, and people get to have personal relationship even with people who are unknown to them—people who suddenly pop out in their computer’s screens, with names that may or may not be factual. Personal relationships help form the self-identity, offering opportunities for self-expression and the self-renewal. According to Giddens (1991), The modern world is a ‘runaway world’: not only is the pace of social change much faster than in any prior system, so also is its scope, and the profoundness with which it affects pre-existing social practices and modes of behavior. (Giddens, 1991, p. 16) With this, it is apparent that the IT becomes an active component in the continuous transformation of a person’s identity, as it creates and affects the social practices and the modes of a person’s behavior. Thus, problems that affect the personal life of the individual could affect not only the self-identity, but the social practices and the environment as a whole. Ethical problems in terms of anonymity and privacy, for example, can lead to an identity that is blemished because of unethical conduct. Despite the fact that people always carry discursive interpretations of their behavior, this practical consciousness drives the person into creating or destroying the ontological security of human activity in a culture. As an effect, people tend to write comments anonymously while hiding their true identities. Ethical problems in anonymity According to the article that Richard Perez-Pena (2010) wrote entitled ‘News Sites Rethink Anonymous Online Comments’, it says that Internet users usually make use of the digital disguise, revealing their power and their sentiments without acknowledging their true identities to the viewers. This constitutes a sort of freedom for the digital users, and this is most typical in news sites, wherein the viewers are allowed to post comments without indicating their true identities, keeping their privacy in a world that is being presented in public. As indicated in the article, â€Å"Anyone could weigh in and remain anonymous† (Perez-Pena, 2010, p. 1), and this leads to the question on whether or not viewers of Internet sites should be allowed to remain anonymous when dictating their comments and suggestions. This is a very significant ethical problem associated to IT, since it has been ethically accepted that any type of idea or sentiment should be associated to the respectful person who has formed the idea. According to Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post, Anonymity is just the way things are done. It’s an accepted part of the Internet, but there’s no question that people hide behind anonymity to make vile or controversial comments. (Perez-Pena, 2010, p. 1) It has, therefore, been advised that viewers should indicate their factual names, especially when making a significant commentary about the society. They should use their real names, and this may be done by requiring people to register first before posting their commentaries. Ethical problems in privacy According to the article that Scott Rosenberg (2010) wrote entitled ‘Online Comments Need Moderation, Not Real Names’, there is also the statement that defines how newspaper website managers have been reacting in terms of anonymity and privacy keeping. As stated, â€Å"If only they could make people sign their real names, surely the atmosphere would improve† (Rosenberg, 2010, p. 1). Online conversation spaces make media outlets turn the common software on and then leave them as it is, as if the discussions would â€Å"magically take care of themselves† (Rosenberg, 2010, p. 1). The problem, however, is that the commenters should not be faceless and should carry identities that are open for the other viewers. This problem is in the identity system, with the Web having no identity system that would ethically reconnect the idea to the person who has declared it. As stated in the article, The Web has no identity system, and though the FBI can track you down if the provocation is dire enough, and if you get editors mad enough they can track you down, too, most media companies aren’t going to waste the time and money. (Rosenberg, 2010, p. 1) Ethical privacy problems can also be in the form of ‘hacking’ or â€Å"using unauthorized access to an information system† (Floridi, 2008, p. 43). This indulges privacy and confidentiality. Conclusion There are other ethical problems associated with the IT of the modern social world, such as using the new technology in order to cheat one’s taxes, or deviating the user from his or her true name or identity. It can also be in the form of wardriving wherein people try to connect wirelessly to other people’s networks (Moor, 2008, p. 33). All these unethical conducts can create an enormous social impact that leads to technological revolution that can contract IT in its power stage. With proper management, it can develop the IT into something that is more powerful and enormous, without the ethical problems that have large-scale effects on the society. It is evident, therefore, that open societies through the IT still need some enhancements, so that the ethical problems would be controlled and maximized. References Floridi, L. (2008). Information ethics: its nature and scope. In Eds. Jeroen van den Hoven and John Weckert’s Information technology and moral philosophy. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: self and society in the late modern age. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Moor, J. (2008). Why we need better ethics for emerging technologies. In Eds. Jeroen van den Hoven and John Weckert’s Information technology and moral philosophy. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Perez-Pena, R. (2010, April 11). News sites rethink anonymous online comments. Retrieved May 7, 2010, from The New York Times Company database: http://www. nytimes. com/2010/04/12/technology/12comments. html. Rosenberg, S. (2010, April 13). Online comments need moderation, not real names. Retrieved May 7, 2010, from Salon Media Group, Inc. database: http://www. salon. com/news/feature/2010/04/13/newspaper_online_comments_moderation_open2010.

Curriculum and Cultural Capital relating to Social Justice and Educatio

Education is the process of skills, the acquisition of knowledge and understanding that all children acquire through learning in an institute of education, every individual has an equal right to an education and as a result, an entitlement is provided to all children. However, there are a proportion of children that are at a disadvantaged due to cultural and social indifferences, consequently, for all pupils, education can be seen as the means of a socialising process, which generates a set of principles that may affect many of its learners, Thus the National Curriculum was initiated as an opportunity of equality in addition to an inclusive education, which would provide all its pupils regardless of socio economic backgrounds. However, for a few of the heterogeneous group, the National Curriculum, on the grounds of fairness and opportunities created a socialisation process, which simultaneously is the possibility of why some children achieve, in addition to those who do not. Thus, th e entirety of its pupils has its advantages together with its disadvantages by dividing numerous children into a catalogue of academically able, with the addition of the view being reversed given that this is achieved through the process of social reproduction. Each class has its own cultural background, knowledge, dispositions, and tastes that are transmitted through the family (Bourdieu 1984) which is the predispositions of each student achieving in education. Thus, this essay will consider the ways into which, and how the extent of social justice and education is influenced through cultural capital and the National Curriculum. Cultural capital to some degree is whom you know and what you know. To characterize cultural capital, it is indicated thro... ...al and Cultural Development. London: Continuum. Carr, W. and Hartnett, A. (1996) Education and the Struggle for Democracy. Buckingham: Open University Press. Matheson, D. and Grosvenor, I. (1999) An Introduction to the study of Education. London: David Fulton Publishers. Bartlett, S. and Burton, D. (2007) Introduction to Education Studies. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications Ayers, W. Quinn, T. and Stovall, D. (2009) Handbook of Social Justice in Education. New York: Routledge. Bates, I and Riseborough, G. (eds). (1993) Youth and Inequality. Buckingham: Open University Press, pp. 142-43. Selfe, P. (2000) Education, Training and Policy. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Payne, G (ed.) (2000) Social Divisions. London: Macmillan. p. 160. BBC NEWS(2001) School test results 'useless' say critics. [online].[ Available] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1684247.stm

Gay Right and Gay Marriage Essay

The Gays Rights Movement has existed for over 89 years in counting since the development of the Society for Human Rights in Chicago. During the early years of the Gay Rights movement (1924-1973) it was very difficult to identify as a member of the same sex loving community because during this time it was illegal in the United States. Society didn’t accept the concept due to it being against traditional customs and norms. â€Å"The period since the late 1960s has been a time of gay liberation, more accurately, the movement of gay men and lesbian woman to overcame discrimination and gain rights in society.† (Collins & Coltrane, 2001) During the early years the LBGT community was a private and out of sight lifestyle. The history of the movement reports homosexuality was previously identified as a mental disorder of American Psychiatric Association until 1973 when it was removed. (â€Å"The American gay,† 2000-2013) According to World of Sociology (2001), â€Å"Conf lict theory emphasizes the role of coercion and power in producing social order.† (pg.118) (â€Å"Conflict theory,† 2001) â€Å"This perspective is derived from the works of Karl Marx, who saw society as fragmented into groups that compete for social and economic resources. Social order is maintained by domination, with power in the hands of those with the greatest political, economic, and social resources. When consensus exists, it is attributable to people being united around common interests, often in opposition to other groups. According to conflict theory, inequality exists because those in control of a disproportionate share of society’s resources actively defend their advantages. The masses are not bound to society by their shared values, but by coercion at the hands of those in power.† (Crossman, A., 2013) â€Å"There is also an expansion Marx’s idea that the key conflict in society was strictly economic. Today, conflict theorists find soci al conflict between any groups in which the potential for inequality  exists: racial, gender, religious, political, economic, and so on. Conflict theorists note that unequal groups usually have conflicting values and agendas, causing them to compete against one another. The conflict theory ultimately attributes humanitarian efforts, altruism, democracy, civil rights, and other positive aspects of society to capitalistic designs to control the masses, not to inherent interests in preserving society and social order. This perspective emphasizes social control, not consensus and conformity. Groups and individuals advance their own interests, struggling over control of societal resources.† (Crossman, A., 2013) After 1973 it appears that homosexuality became identified as LGBT. Nationwide legal system and religions organization felt the need to challenges and felt these acts was a constitutional violation. Sometime around the 1974, gays and lesbians were becoming present in â€Å"positions of power† like Harvey Milk who was City Commissioner of San Francisco. They were also seeking and granted domestic-partnership benefits by 1984 in California. These obstacles for the LGBT community were met with rejections and oppressions by American governments and its supporters. In 1993, many men and women were discharged from the armed forces due to â€Å"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.† By 1996 the issue of homosexuality and lesbianism had reached the Supreme Court with some achieveme nts but mostly â€Å"knock downs†. ABA Journal published an article â€Å"The Stonewall legacy: ABA Commission creates an award commemorating a key moment for LBGT rights â€Å"on February 2013. The article explains how in the late hours of June 27, 1969 in Greenwich Village, New York at the Stonewall Inn a number of patrons fought law enforcement after numerous experiences with polices raids and other forms of harassments by authority. The articles explained how the Stonewall Inn was a â€Å"well-known† gathering spot for gays in the low-profile area of New York. The patrons throw beer cans, bricks and other objects at arresting officers as they interrupted their only opportunity to socialize with other gay individuals. After experiencing countless riots, arrest and beating the patrons developed a protest known as the Stonewall Riots (movement). The individuals involved in the riot were not only gay males but lesbian (same loving females), bisexual (both sex loving) and transgender (opposite sex identifying) individuals. After about one years of the establishment of the movement gay prides were started in Chicago, Los Angles, New York and San Francisco. The progress in the  movement encouraged the LBGT (lesbian, bi, gay and transgender) individuals to begin to assert their civil rights. James J.S. Holmes, chair of the Commission of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identify/ABA reports, â€Å"The riots were a very visible and public display where the LGBT community finally made it clear it wasn’t going to accept any more repression and poor treatment.† (Filisko, 2013) As the gay bar was for many whites a refuge from homophobia, so family and church were refuges from racism for lesbians and gays of color, including racism in the white lesbian and gay community. Rather than â€Å"smashing the church† and turning their back on family, lesbians and gays of color needed to find ways to negotiate or confront homophobia in those places while at the same time negotiating racism within the gay community.† Many couples like Jack Baker and Michael McConnell or Phyllis Marshall and Grace Thornton fought so hard to fight the â€Å"coercion and power† and â€Å"the hands of those with the greatest political, economic, and social resources† specifically the church and other opposing LGBT groups who felt that their movement was either too soon or out of mainstream (outside of box). (Chenier, 2013) The current issues being address now by society and LGBT individuals seeking matrimony rights. (â€Å"The American gay,† 2000-2013) Most recently on June 26, 2013 the Supreme Court ruled that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. In a 5 to 4 vote, the court rules that DOMA violates the rights of gays and lesbians. The court also rules that the law interferes with the states’ rights to define marriage. It is the first case ever on the issue of gay marriage for the Supreme Court. (Johnson, 2013) Johnson reports that â€Å"the DOMA decision was a huge psychological and legal boost for the gay and lesbian community, but it left same-sex couples in 37 states wit h half a loaf†¦only thirteen states and the District of Columbia allow such marriage.† (Johnson, 2013) In 2000, Vermont becomes the first state in the country to legally recognize civil unions between gay or lesbian couples. It was stated that â€Å"couples would be entitled to the same benefits, privileges, and responsibilities as spouses.† The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide published an essay by author Elise Chenier that reported, â€Å"for the past ten years, same-sex marriage has dominated the American political landscape, but this is not the first time in history this issue has made front-page news. In 1971, The San Francisco Chronicle declared that a â€Å"gay marriage boom† was under way. In the first  few years of that decade, The New York Times, Life magazine, Jet, and other periodicals ran feature articles about a handful of couples who launched America’s first battles for legal recognition of same-sex marriage.† Chenier states â₠¬ ¦liberationists’ critique of marriage and family did not make sense for people of color, who relied on family and church for their everyday survival, even as they battled homophobia within them. Gay marriage is a topic that I have had to experience in my personal life when my two childhood friends of twenty years decided to have a marriage ceremony/party in Washington, DC. This party was held about three year ago and they have been dating for two years. After college both of my friends attended Morris Brown College in Georgia. They sent out invites and made announcements for the gathering of friends and love one. My family and I were not aware that they were a same sex couple let alone seeking marriage equality. When we all arrived in Georgia we thought it was a celebration party because they both are successful defense attorneys in Georgia. I was very surprise to see an altar, ceremony minister, flowers and a detailed tuxedo for me. They pulled me and my wife to the side and asked if I was willing to participate in their special day. We were really good friends in high school so against my strict Christian upbringing I participated in the ceremony. Unfortunately, before the grooms could exchange vows and commit themselves to one another the media busted into the location and started taking pictures and causing issues. I felt this was a private and interment ceremony for my friends and it would not end well. A crowd of protestors and media gathered outside. Law enforcement was contacted and some protestors and ceremony members including one of my friends were arrested. My couple plans to get married in the 2014 after ruling of unconstitutional of DOMA and I plan to be front and center. I was enraged at the disrespect these two successful guys had experience at the hands of inequality. After speaking with my friends about the aftermath, experiencing the inequality first-hand and completing this assignment. It is definitely obvious that the progress the Gay Rights Advocates has made toward demanding equal and I feel obligated to promote equality for all people. Reference Chenier, E. (2013). Gay marriage, 1970s style. The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, 20(2), 19+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA321900004&v=2.1&u=lom_kentdl&it=r&p=GRGM&sw=w Cohen, L. (2013). The federal role in the family. Commentary, 136(2), 7+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA341125184&v=2.1&u=lom_kentdl&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w&asid=30b2787a87635f60db13fe9df042a70a Coltrane, S., & Collins, R. (2001). Sociology of marriage & the family, gender, love, and property. (5th ed). Canada: Wadsworth Pub Co. Crossman, A. (2013). Conflict Theory: Overview. About.com online. Retrieved from http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociological-Theory/a/Conflict-Theory.htm. Filisko, G. M. (2013, February). The Stonewall legacy: ABA Commission creates an award commemorating a key moment for LGBT rights. ABA Journal, 99(2), 57+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA318106223&v=2.1&u=lom_kentdl&it=r&p=GRGM&sw=w Johnson, F. (2013). DOMA Didn’t Go Away–It Just Went Local. National Journal. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA344159967&v=2.1&u=lom_kentdl&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w&asid=7d18e04c20680c7230095f8f3e1baab5 Palmisano, J. (Eds.). (2001). World of sociology, (vol. 2). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. The American Gay Rights Movement: A Timeline. (n.d.). Infoplease.com online. Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0761909.html.

Wannacry a cyber security issue - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1081 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/10/10 Did you like this example? Despite the growth of technology displaying definite significant to the society, it has been subjected to many challenges with the most conspicuous challenge being the cyber security issue.   To be in a position of defining how cyber security has negatively affected the technology industry, it serves great importance mentioning that cyber security is a set of methods made up of technologies, processes, and practices designed to safeguard networks, programs and data from attacks and damages from viruses or access by unauthorized access.   The process of ensuring cyber security needs coordinated efforts from interested stakeholders in an information system within an organization. In the course of providing a secure information system, the traditional approach concentrated most of it efforts in seeing to it that the most vital system components are protected against the biggest identified threat. Through enhancing the security details of critical components in an information system, information systems components that are thought less important are left unsecured thus exposing them to the attack by viruses.. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Wannacry a cyber security issue" essay for you Create order In many organizations, the information technology department installs antivirus to protect their organization crucial information from attack by viruses putting less attention on ways in which the whole operating system can be protected from virus attacks. Addressing the issue of operating system attacks by viruses, Wannacry can be viewed as a   cyber security issue in that it affects the Windows operating system. The most conspicuous event that qualifies the Wannacry as a cyber safety issue is that the virus first harmful effects were felt after it attacked over one hundred and fifty regions around the world. A notion that saw to it some people giving the incident the name the begging of a new era that was marked with hackers being in a position of gaining access to other users weak spots in online security. Further prove that Wannacry is a cyber security issue is proven by the fact that the major virus target was Microsoft’s Windows operating system utilizing a malicious software ransomware. Making use of the mentioned virus, Wannacry blocked users from entry to computers system and demanded that the affected user make some payments through crypto media of exchange known as bitcoin. Together with locking down users from accessing important files from their computers in many parts of Europe, Asia and fewer parts of North America,   a well-known electronic company from Japan Known as Hitachi claimed that they experienced hard times in the process of operating their emails.   Some of the complaints raised by the company are that it was not possible for them to send or receive electronic mails, opening attached files a problem that the Hitachi Company attributed to the Wannacry attack. As noted in the introduction paragraph, a cyber security issue is any occurrence that compensates the proper flow of data processing in an information system. Through taking advantage of the Windows operating system exploit called Eterbal Blue, Wannacry ruins the functionality of the software system a perspective that qualifies Wannacry as a cyber security issue.   By inhibiting users from accessing their files unless they make a certain payment via the bitcoin currency, Wannacry rendered the users to a situation in which they could not operate their laptops effectively. Also,   Eternal Blue which takes advantage of  Ã‚   Microsoft patched in security update   MS 17-010 made hackers conversant with using Wannacry virus thus could gain   access to remote computers users and install programs with malicious effects on a given user computer thus locking down the users from accessing their stored information.   For a user to in a position of obtaining his or her stored informa tion, the user was required to make some payments to a certain site.   . Accessing personal information without the authority of the person in question renders the user whose information have been accessed to a situation in which individuals privacy is exposed.   Since Wannacry virus enabled the act, it is a fact Wannacry qualifies a cyber security issue.   Even though the ruins associated with Wannacry attacks were maintained after the ransomware attacks with remediation plans, it serves great importance for organizations dealing with information technology to set an effective means of mitigating chances of cyber security.   The best way in which information Technology Company can figure out the issues of cyber security is through enhancing awareness of using the Internet safely in a whole in an organization. Following the Wannacry attack, it was proven beyond reasonable doubts that any business organization despite the complexity of its system subjected to a risk factor of a cyber attack that in one way or the other compensates the overall functionality of the group in question. As defined in the introduction section of this discussion a cyber security issue is an intentional act that jeopardizes the typical workflow within an organization. On the other hand, cyber security entails the actions aimed at ensuring that malicious users who might harm the way in which computer users carry out their data processing activities safeguard information system from access. Facts provided in the essay give a clear reference to the way in which Wannacry attack caused mishaps on different sections regions across the world.   The first notable effect that Wannacry displayed the traits of a cyber security issue is that it barricaded computers users from accessing their files.   As the discussion high lights, for a user to be in a position of accessing individual’s data, the user in question was required to pay some cash a definite site that he or she would receive an electronic mail.   In addition to denying users access to their information, through making use of Wannacry, malicious users   gained access of other people information thus exposing their privacy. In the process of ensuring data security is arrived at in a given institution, cyber security ensures that malicious users cannot access personal information. This notion is however compensated after Wannacry comes in play. By allowing malicious users gain access of personal Wannacry has proven a cyber security issue.   Despite the fact that Wannacry acting as a cyber security issue, through the application of some of some specific measures organization can mitigate chances of Wannacry and other cyber security issues. For instance ensuring all information system components are safe safeguarded from cases of attack by viruses or access by unauthorized users. In addition to initiating security measures to all elements of information system, the organization in question should see to it that computer users are taken through awareness training to that will help them mitigate chances of unsafe use of internet.