ISYS 101Lecture #51 Intro to Information Systems I Ethical and Career Issues ISYS 101 Glenn Booker.

ISYS 101 Lecture #5 1

Intro to Information Systems IEthical and Career Issues

ISYS 101

Glenn Booker


Privacy and the Internet

• Few laws exist on sharing of personal information obtained over the Internet

• Some have found key identity information (social security numbers, credit card numbers) and sold them to anyone

• This can cause “identity theft”– While legal liability is low, recovering from

such a theft can take years


Stalking

• Privacy and anonymity are harder and harder to protect, given the amount of information available publicly

• It is also possible to stalk people using information from the Internet

• Many fear that unraveling DNA will result in more extensive discrimination


Credit Tracking

• Vast amounts of information on personal credit history are maintained for everyone, yet you have no right to prevent it from happening

• Many buy and sell personal information for marketing purposes, but private investigators could use it for other purposes


Anonymity

• Others, like the European Union, have better protection of privacy than the USA

• The right to express opinions without fear of reprisal is crucial in a democracy

• Statements which harm someone else could be defamation or slander

• In writing, it becomes libel


Computers and Privacy

• Computers can keep information about you in many ways

• “Cookies” store a small amount of information in a text file on your computer– E.g. preferences when you go to a shopping

web site– But cookies can also keep track of where you

go on a web site, and what you buy


Computers and Privacy

• Some cookies report back what kind of places you visit on the web, which is used to select which kinds of banner ads will most likely appeal to you

• Some programs like Ad-aware (from Lavasoft, http://www.lavasoft.de/) will scan your computer and remove offensive cookies

http://www.lavasoft.de/


Computer Identifiers

• Some hardware (e.g. early Pentium III’s) and software have a built-in unique identifier, so that crimes committed from those computers can be uniquely traced to it

• Only public pressure keeps companies from wider-spread use of such technology, such as for enforcing software registration


Self-regulation?

• Many insist that major Internet-based companies do not do enough to ensure people’s privacy– Amazon.com got in a lot of trouble recently for

selling its customer list, though that is legal

• Many proclaim their privacy policies, but only 10% allow customer control over what data is collected or used


Privacy at Work

• Many companies put restrictions on how and where employees can use the Internet

• In theory this is to keep productivity high

• They have all legal rights to do so

• Hence employees can only assume that their email and Internet use are constantly monitored


Protecting Privacy

• Some web sites will let you browse anonymously

• Disable cookies on your web browser• Don’t buy anything or order anything online• Use free email accounts for anything which

might attract spam (junk email)• Make sure your kids don’t give out info


Encryption

• One way to help secure your information is to use encryption software

• Encryption codes the information you send on the Internet and allows only the recipient to decode it – kind of like spies use

• Most kinds of publicly available encryption can be decoded by law enforcement


Public Key Encryption

• One common encryption method is called public key encryption

• You have a private “key” which no one else knows

• Anyone can use a separate public “key” to send you a coded message; but it can be decoded only using your private key


Public Key Encryption

• Commercially, RSA is a leader in Public Key Encryption

• For private use, Pretty Good Privacy (pgp.com) is useful for encrypting personal email and files


Hardware Encryption

• More sophisticated encryption methods use actual hardware (chips) to uniquely identify the sender and recipient

• The Clipper chip was going to do this, but has fallen out of favor


Exporting Encryption

• Software and hardware encryption have very strict export regulations, too

• Software encryption is limited by the length of the key – longer keys are harder to break

• The current export limit is 128-bit encryption (40 and 56-bit are passé)

• In the USA, keys can go to 4096 bits


Computer Crimes

• Some people use the Internet to break into other’s computers

• Motives can be boredom, need to show off their skills, and theft of corporate knowledge

• Also known as “crackers”– “Hackers” are skilled computer programmers


Computer Crimes

• Computer crimes are often never detected

• If someone gets into your computer and copies the data, you might never be able to tell it happened

• Many tricks can be used to obtain passwords to gain entry into computers


Computer Crimes

• Some programs, like “Satan”, can help detect weaknesses in computer security

• Other common security issues include computer viruses, which can be playful and/or destructive

• Recently macro viruses have run rampant in email, sending tons of garbage messages


Computer Crimes

• The biggest source of computer attacks is disgruntled employees (remember Jurassic Park?)

• Other troublemakers can include genuine spies, various kinds of thieves, and predators


The Price of Computer Crime

• Computer crimes cost in many ways:– Time for people to defend from them– Downtime to recover from attacks– Fraud and theft of information or services– Cost of preventing attacks– Loss of privacy– Loss of public safety, and many more ways


Protection from Computer Crimes

• Many forms of protection are available– Control access using SmartCards or

biometric devices– Use firewalls to help keep out intruders– Have a reputable firm test your system to make

sure it’s reasonably secure– Make sure your system is safe from current and

former employees

http://www.zonealarm.com/


Protection from Computer Crimes

• More ways include:– Use encryption for information passing over

public lines– Use antivirus programs (e.g. eTrust)– Back up your data, so it can be restored easily– Avoid scams to rip you off

http://my-etrust.com/products/info/Antivirus/2

http://www.retrospect.com/


Ethics

• Computer technology creates new ethical issues

• Plagiarism is a major one on campus

• It’s tempting to “borrow” some material for a paper

• Two problems with this – one, your prof is probably smart enough to catch it, …


Ethics

• And two, you can fail the course on the spot if you get caught – http://www.drexel.edu/studentlife/studenthandb

ook/

• Plagiarism can also result in copyright infringement, which can get you sued

http://www.drexel.edu/studentlife/studenthandbook/

http://www.drexel.edu/studentlife/studenthandbook/


Software Piracy

• Software piracy is a major worldwide problem

• Whether it applies depends on the type of license your software uses

• The Software Publisher’s Association is now the Software & Information Industry Association, at www.spa.org


Napster

• A major copyright battle is waging over Napster and other programs which allow the exchange of music in MP3 format– Industry maintains it’s blatant

copyright infringement– Users pretend it’s “fair use”, like quoting a

book in a research paper– Battle is not fully resolved


Computer Ethics

• Key ethical guidelines for computer use include:– Don’t do anything using a computer you

wouldn’t do in person or with another tool– Respect yourself and others

• Follow basic guidelines, such as that by the ACM, IEEE, or Internet etiquette (netiquette)

http://www.acm.org/serving/se/code.htm


Choosing a Computer

• Need to choose between desktop and notebook– Desktop is cheaper and more expandable– Laptops are portable, but easy to steal

• Need to decide Macintosh versus PC

• What level of performance are you willing to pay for? What is your budget?


Choosing a Computer

• Your hardware choices may be driven by your software needs– Heavy analysis, programming, CAD, or

scientific program usage will push you to higher performance levels

– Basic word processing and Internet uses will need a minimal system – unless you’re a gaming fanatic


Choosing a Computer

• Plan for the future, ignore the textbook, and be reasonable– Allow for expanding to 2 or 3 times as much

RAM as you start with (and start with at least 256 MB of RAM)

– Allow for more or bigger hard drives – storage is cheap, and gets used up a lot faster than you expect! (hard drives might range 20 - 60 GB)


Choosing a Computer

• Video is cheap important since you look at it all the time!

• A minimum video card has 32 MB of RAM and probably uses an AGP slot

• Don’t think of using a monitor under 17” (for desktop systems); and 19” is still cheap ($300 for a decent one)


Choosing a Computer

• Modems, if you use one, should be V.90 compatible, and avoid Windows-only modems (Win modems use the operating system to do their job for them)

• Network cards should only be from 3Com (my opinion, take it or leave it)


Choosing a Computer

• Sound options depend a lot on how much you use sound – can range from 16-bit Sound Blaster to full THX certified sound

• Keyboard and mouse probably use PS/2 ports (except Macs), or maybe USB– Consider getting an optical mouse if you do a

lot of graphics


Choosing a Computer

• Protect your computer with a good power strip (e.g. Isobar)

• Consider using a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)– UPS is a battery-powered backup to protect

your computer from sudden power loss– Gives you a few minutes to shut down your

computer after power goes out


Choosing a Computer

• Printer choices depend a lot on the type of output you need– Inkjets are cheap initially, but very expensive

per page– Laser printers are cheap per page, but more

expensive initially– If your home will have a network, get a printer

with built-in networking


Computer Ailments

• Computer usage has caused some health problems

• Staring at a computer screen a lot can hurt your eyes – to avoid this, take frequent breaks and deliberately focus on things which are far away


Computer Ailments

• Some repetitive strain problems (e.g. carpal tunnel syndrome) are blamed on computer use, but recent studies have disproven that

• Main way to prevent problems is to use good keyboard and mouse hand position, and use supports for your wrists

• Some really spiffy computer chairs also exist to help avoid problems


Computers and Disabilities

• Some tools also exist to help people with disabilities use computers effectively– Screen readers– Unusual screen resolutions– Voice activated commands– Braille printers


Career Tracks

• Many career tracks exist in corporate information technology, from programmer to chief information officer (CIO)

• The corresponding qualifications needed also vary widely

• Similar titles also exist in software development organizations


Educational Needs

• Distinguish between education (degrees) and training (certification)

• Education is to ensure you understand the foundation of how technology works, and can build various skills on top of that– Educational degrees might include information

technology, computer science, or electrical engineering


Educational Needs

• Training is to teach a specific set of skills, such as programming, networking, etc.

• General business skills are still needed, such as teamwork, communication, industry knowledge, etc.


Key Skills

• Key skills for the current marketplace include:– C/C++/Java programming– Web-related skills (Perl, ASP, JBC, etc.)– Major operating system knowledge (Windows

NT/2000/XP, Unix, Linux)– Networking (TCP/IP, maybe Novell NetWare)– Visual Basic and Visual C++


Key Skills

– Database skills (Oracle, SQL Server)

• Other skills needed tend to be application-specific– CASE tools– Graphics programs (Adobe Photoshop)– And any other specific software already used

by that company (AutoCAD, etc.)


Major Certification Tracks

• Microsoft– Software development (MCSD)– Networking (MCSE)

• Oracle (database)

• Cisco (networking)

• CIW (Internet)

• Novell (networking)


Major Certification Tracks

• Sun– Solaris (operating system)– Java (programming)

• And probably others…

• Certification can help demonstrate skills in spite of missing educational background


Emerging Technology

• Computer technology keeps advancing in spite of claims to the contrary

• Moore’s Law indicates circuits double in power every 18-24 months– True ever since the 1960’s

• Metcalfe’s Law states that a network’s value is proportional to the square of the number of people connected to it


Emerging Technology

• Net result is that more and more information is being stored, and able to communicate with other information

• The textbook predicts a personal computer in 2005 with 1 GB of RAM (already easily possible – cost me $250 for the upgrade) and a 135 GB hard drive (a 181 GB drive exists)


Emerging Technology

• Ubiquitous computing is a predicted trend and fear – that computers will be everywhere

• One of the greatest challenges is artificial intelligence (also a great movie, BTW!)– Can we teach a computer to think?– If so, will it do so responsibly?


Emerging Technology

• Judging intelligence isn’t easy

• Computers have long been able to pass the Turing test – can you fail to tell the difference between a conversation with a computer versus one with a person?


Emerging Technology

• Some computer feats are based on brute force – like calculating all remaining chess moves – but that can seem like intelligence

• Working with computers using our natural language is a common goal – like Scotty in Star Trek telling the computer what to do– But only predefined commands can be given so

far


Emerging Technology

• Speech recognition and machine translation into other human languages are still fairly primitive – errors are very frequent– A classic example is to translate the idiom “out

of sight, out of mind” into another language and then back into English … the most common result is “invisible, insane”


Emerging Technology

• Expert systems try to understand a limited field in depth, using sophisticated logic– Best known example is to provide medical

diagnoses by prompting for answers to many questions (such as symptoms, test results, etc.)

– These systems use rules to describe how to proceed from any given point


Emerging Technology

• Fuzzy logic is being used to control systems (e.g. trains) more smoothly than normal logic allows

• Robots are becoming more common, but are still very limited in scope

• “Strong AI” seeks to develop truly intelligent computers, but is not very close


Emerging Technology

• Neural networks once promised to answer all of our computer logic needs– Based on human nervous system design, neural

nets learn by trial and error to reinforce the best patterns of behavior

• So computers remain our humble servants – thank goodness!


Where Do We Go From Here?

• Computer technology is the foundation of our society; it pervades every aspect of daily life, whether we see it or not

• Computers follow programs to take in inputs, process them, provide output, and store the results – in spite of their immense speed, they are clueless idiots at our disposal

ISYS 101Lecture #51 Intro to Information Systems I Ethical and Career Issues ISYS 101 Glenn Booker.

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