Computer Ethics (Fourth Commandment)

(Barbhuiya, 2021)

The way people make decisions based on what is good and bad is derived from ethical standards, which differ attitudes from what is morally right and wrong for individuals and society. Also, ethics is referred to as a branch of philosophy, called moral philosophy (Singer, 2023). Ethics is applied to several areas, including business, medicine, journalism, university, and so on. Within this specific scenario, computer ethics would not miss. This work is based on the fourth computer ethics commandment.

 

''Computer ethics refers to the guiding precepts and norms that are adopted and applied to regulate and control the use of computers and its applications'' (Cariaga, 2022, pg. 1). Amid computer ethics, commandments were created in order to maintain rules and morals when using computers. One of them is the fourth commandment which reflects that using a computer to steal is wrong, and people should avoid it. It is not astonishing that has happened series of online robberies throughout the years in addition to spam messages.

  

A case which came famous, happened in 2020, about Graham Ivan Clark, a 17-year-old young boy who was sentenced to 3 years in prison. for having accessed Bill Gates, Joe Biden and Kim Kardashian's Twitter accounts. The young man used the accounts with the purpose of soliciting Bitcoin transactions (Paul, 2021). ''According to court documents, Clark made more than $100,000 from the scheme, which his lawyers say he has since returned'' (Paul, 2021, para. 3). Using computers to steal is not only related to accessing bank accounts; other ways of robbing are related to copyright contents. Many companies adopt copyright policies, great examples are YouTube, Soundcloud and even Twitter. They do so because it prevents individuals from using content from others.

 

The fourth commandment has huge importance for the way society uses computers. It enforces the context that stealing is totally wrong and people should avoid and prevent it. Further, cases of stealing still happen, which shows that people should care about data safekeeping. Analyzing websites when doing shopping, getting an antivirus and updating it yearly, and not responding to spam messages in the mailbox, are simple and efficient ways to prevent steal.

 

 

 

 

References list:

 

Paul, K (2021) Teen who hacked Joe Biden and Bill Gates' Twitter accounts sentenced to three years in prison, para. 2-3 Available at: Teen who hacked Joe Biden and Bill Gates' Twitter accounts sentenced to three years in prison | Hacking | The Guardian (Accessed: 14/05/2023) 

Dan, K (2022) Scribd Available at: Computer Ethics | PDF | Security Hacker | Copyright Infringement (scribd.com) (Accessed: 14/05/2023)

Singer, P (2023) Britannica Available at: Ethics - Natural Law, Divine Approbation, and Human Dignity | Britannica (Accessed: 14/05/2023)

Barbhuiya, T (2021) A golden padlock sitting on top of a keyboard Available at: A golden padlock sitting on top of a keyboard photo – Free Lock Image on Unsplash (Accessed: 15/05/2023)