Transcript Professional and Ethical Responsibilities Mathew Laba Shengsheng Liu

Professional and Ethical
Responsibilities
Mathew Laba
Shengsheng Liu
Johnny Loi
Bedros Magardichian
Adam Marczyk
CS 495
Senior Seminar
Spring 2004
Group 2
The Nature of Professionalism
Mathew Laba
CS 495: Senior Seminar
Professor Steflik
Spring 2004
What is professionalism?
• Webster’s defines professionalism as
– Professional status, methods, character, or
standards.
– A profession is recognized as one of a limited
number of occupations involving special
training and carrying a certain social
prestige.
What does it look like?
• Occupations like accounting, law,
medicine, engineering and computing are
professions.
• That’s right, computing. Computing is a
specialized field of study which has
emerged to satisfy the huge demand for
professionals with certain unique skills.
Professionalism in computing
• Professionalism in computing can be
characterized as follows:
– Skills
– Communication
– Appearance
– Speech / Mannerisms
– Behavior
– Role Models
Skill set
• Very specialized field of study.
• Difficult to maintain a skill set which
might not be considered outdated.
• Acquire and maintain a quality skill set:
– degrees
– certifications and continuing education
•Communication
• Good communication skills are critical in the
practical application of computing.
• The complicated nature of computing makes
communication difficult.
• Computer professionals with good
communication skills have a distinct
employment advantage over less-verbose
applicants.
•Appearance
• Appearance is another important part of
portraying a professional demeanor.
• To make a good positive impression be well
groomed at all times.
• Be sure to dress accordingly for all important
meetings.
• Dress casually when appropriate.
•Speech / Mannerisms
• Speak clearly.
• A good command of the English
language demonstrates your ability to
convey a message well.
• Your expressions and gestures affect the
confidence that others have in your
ability to do your job well.
•Behavior
• A code of ethics is used to define the
expectations which most professions
have of their practitioners.
– typically associated with professional
accredited organizations
– special consideration given to the specific
organization or field of concentration
•Ethical Behavior
• Special legal considerations
– vast knowledge of sensitive proprietary info
– great potential for abuse with large expense
to employer
– Unethical behavior discouraged with
potentially severe criminal consequences and
civil penalties.
Moral Behavior
• In regards to employers and co-workers
– Treat others with respect
– Be courteous and considerate of others’
feelings
– Respect others’ political and religious beliefs
The characteristics of a
computer professional
• Acquire and maintain a quality skill set.
• Develop good communication skills.
• Be well groomed at all times.
• Speak clearly and act with confidence.
• Behave in a moral and ethical manner.
• Find a role model.
Someone to Emulate
Ethical Dissent and
Whistleblowing
Shengsheng Liu
CS–495
Professor Steflik
Spring 2004
Definition of Whistleblowing
“The disclosure by an organization member
(former or current), who is motivated by the
notions of public interest, of illegal or
immoral practices under the control of the
employers and/or colleagues.”
Famous Whistleblowers
• Cynthia Cooper,
WorldCom;
• Coleen Rowley, the FBI;
• Sherron Watkins, Enron
(left to right)
by Time Magazine
What did they do?
•
Cynthia Cooper
She reported that WorldCom had covered up $3.8 billion in loss (the
largest accounting fraud in history) through phony auditing.
•
Coleen Rowley
She “blew the whistle” on the FBI for ignoring the investigation plan
on Zacarias Moussaoui, who is now indicted as a Sept. 11 coconspirator.
•
Sherron Watkins
She revealed the infamous Enron auditing scandal.
Whistleblowing
Two kinds of Whistleblowing:
• Internal: making a well supported suggestion to
higher-ups in order to change the policies in the
organization.
• External: making dissent outside the
organization and contacting others to convince
them to help reform the organization.
Whistleblowing
Conditions to Meet Before Going Public
1.
“Serious and considerable harm to the public” is involved;
2.
One reports the harm and expresses moral concern to
one’s immediate supervisor;
3.
One has available “documented evidence that would
convince a reasonable, impartial observer that one’s view
of the situation is correct”;
4.
One has “good reasons to believe that by going public the
necessary changes will be brought about” to prevent the
harm. 1
1. De George, R.T. 1990, Business Ethics, 3d ed. 208-212. (MacMillan Publishing, NewYork).
Issues
• Cost and Risks
– Company’s reputation is jeopardized
– Company goes bankrupt and its stock loses value
– Employees lose their jobs
– Whistleblower may be threatened and harassed
• Loyalty vs. Whistleblowing
– On the one hand is the duty of loyalty and confidentiality owed
to the employer;
– On the other hand is one’s ethical code
Conclusion
1.
Whistleblowing plays an important role in any organization’s
transparency and integrity.
2.
Done properly, it can effectively correct internal misconduct
and minimize both cost associated with fraud and risk of
the whistleblowing.
3.
People should step up and blow the whistle under
necessary circumstances, to avoid future tragic cases like
Enron and WorldCom.
Acceptable Use Policies
in the Workplace
Johnny Loi
CS 495 Senior Seminar
Professor Steflik
Spring 2004
Tonight’s Talk Includes…
• Introduction
• Historical Perspective
• Current Perspective
– The Cost
– The Legal Issues
– The Security Breaches
• Future Perspective
• Conclusion
Introduction
• What is acceptable use policy?
– Employers describing to employees what are
acceptable/unacceptable use of company resources
• Company resources (assets)
– Tangible: equipments, office supplies, corporate
funds, computer, software
– Intangible: proprietary information, business
strategies, plans, financial data
Historical Perspective
• Before early 1990s
– Supplies, equipment and information
exchange
• 1993: Corporate America welcomed the
Internet
– a new avenue for inappropriate use of
company resources
Current Perspective
• Three main problems employers face
because of unacceptable use of company
assets
– Accumulation of unnecessary costs
– Legal Liability
– Security Breaches
The Cost
• Misuse of company resources wastes
money
– Unacceptable telephone use example
•
•
•
•
•
1000 employees
5 minute long distance call per day (M – F)
5 cents per minute
One year total: $60,000
Not including productivity loss and time waste
– Solution
• No personal incoming/outgoing calls during working
hours except for emergencies
The Legal Issues
• Misuse of company resources can lead to legal
problems
– Sexual Harassment Example
• Chevron Corporation sued for sexual harassment
• Four female employees received email entitled “24
reasons beer is better than women”
• Company settled for $2.2 million
The Security Breaches
• Misuse of company resources can jeopardize a
company’s security
– Proprietary information must remain within the
company
– Employees’ responsibility to know when, where, and
how to communicate private information
– Do not send sensitive information through email,
very insecure
• Corporate hacking
Future Perspective
• AUPs will evolve as new technologies get
incorporated into the company
• New guidelines for their proper use
Conclusion
• Acceptable Use Policy protects companies
in three ways:
– Reduce unnecessary costs
– Prevent legal liability
– Defend from security breaches
• Effective when employers actively inform,
train employees and enforce the policy
Dealing With Harassment
and Discrimination in the
Workplace
Bedros Magardichian
CS 495: Senior Seminar
Prof.Steflik
Spring 2004
Common Types of
Discrimination and
Harassment
Race
Religion
Age
Gender
Physical or Mental Disability
Sexual Orientation
Ancestry or Origin
Source of Income
Sexual Harassment
Recognizing Discrimination
and Harassment in the
Workplace
• Hostile work environment
• Retaliation
• Whistle Blowing
• Wrongful Termination
Court Case
Davey v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 1997
•Discrimination based on gender
•Lockheed Martin paid over $200,000 in
punitive damages and compensation
Preventing Discrimination and
Harassment in the workplace
• Company Policies
• Training Programs
• Codes of Ethics
The Law
•The Federal Civil Rights Act 1964, Title VII
•Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC)
•Equal Pay Act (EPA)
•The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Business World
Overseas
•Discrimination and harassment issues drive
company productivity down
•Important for a business to be productive
in a multicultural environment
The Role of the Professional
in Public Policy
Adam Marczyk
CS 495: Senior Seminar
Prof.Steflik
Spring 2004
What is public policy?
• The democratic process by which ideas become law.
• Four major steps:
– Set the agenda.
– Specify possible choices.
– Select an option.
– Implement the selection.
• Professionals have a role to play in each step.
Why should professionals be involved?
• Explosive growth of computing technology.
• Society is more dependent than ever on computers.
– water supplies
– the power grid
– air traffic control
– etc.
• It is vital that those with relevant expertise contribute
to the formation of rational decisions.
• Who would you prefer to set your medical policy, a
doctor or a politician?
The Office of Technology Assessment
• Created in 1972 in response to Congressional
desire for expert technical advice.
• Provided analysis of technical issues in almost
every field.
• Reports universally considered to be of exceptional
quality.
• Struggled to define its mission: provide objective
advice or recommend specific courses of action?
• Closed in 1995 as part of “Contract with America”
Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility
• www.cpsr.org
• Created at Xerox PARC in June 1982 in response to
use of computers in nuclear weapons, “Star Wars”
program.
• Major issues: civil liberties, electronic free speech,
privacy, use of computers in military applications.
• Mission: “We foster and support public discussion of,
and public responsibility for decisions involving the
use of computers in systems critical to society.”
Ethical Issues for Computer Professionals
• Military funding for, use of research.
– DARPA played a significant role in development
of the first digital computers and the Internet.
– “Most major computer science departments
depend upon large amounts of military funding
for their research” (Dunlop and Kling 1991, p.
658).*
• Binghamton’s Digital Data Embedding Laboratory
(dde.binghamton.edu) works on steganographic
and cryptographic projects funded by the U.S. Air
Force.
• Is it ethically acceptable to work for the military?
* Charles Dunlop and Rob Kling, Computerization and
Controversy. San Diego: Academic Press, 1991.
Ethical Issues for Computer Professionals
• Vulnerability of the public information infrastructure.
• Critical systems now connected to the Internet not
originally designed with security in mind.
• Destructive malware such as MyDoom continues to run
rampant.
• Potential consequences of an attack on the public
infrastructure.
– Al-Qaeda spokesmen have stated their intent to wage
cyberattacks against important targets.*
– SQL Slammer caused failures of 911 terminals, ATM
networks; MSBlaster may have contributed to blackouts.
• Do professionals have a responsibility to speak out
merely because they possess relevant knowledge?
*See: www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,76150,00.html
Professional Codes of Ethics
• ACM
– Use of computing technology in ways that cause harm
to others is prohibited.
– Minimize negative consequences of computing
systems.
• IEEE
– Make decisions consistent with the safety and welfare
of the public.
– Disclose promptly factors that endanger others.
• ICCP
– Ensure that efforts are used to benefit humanity.
– Improve public safety through protection of vital
information.
The Role of the Professional in Public Policy
• No reason to believe ethics requires absolute
pacifism, but professionals must retain some say in
how their work is used.
– Creators of A-bomb thought they’d be consulted
on how their work was used.
• Must work out of sincere concern to improve general
welfare and public safety.
• Professionals should take part in active efforts to
promote informed public discussion, shore up
security policy for critical systems.
• Use skills and knowledge to contribute to society.
What the future holds…
• Public standards bodies are likely to play a
greater role in policy formation.
• More active role for government in setting
security policy and overseeing the development
of secure software.
• Expanded role of software certification.