Ethics In IT

chiefloko writes "I am presently taking a Business Ethics class while earning my MBA. For my final paper topic I have chosen 'Ethics within the Information Technology realm.' Over the past 13 years I have worked for three corporations and have seen everything from the typical BOFH to ungodly pirated software use. I also bore witness to a remote user logging in to a poorly administrated Sun station, finding out s/he was root, and then reading co-workers' emails. I am interested in what the norm is for ethics in the IT world and some of the stories and outcomes."

ethics require education

[rucs_hack]

Someone who has no understanding of ethical implications regrading IT will do things they wouldn't dream of if they understood what it meant in terms of invasion of privacy..

Alas many people who use computers regularly are in this category.

I have access to the email of almost everyone I know presonally. Do I read it? Nope.

However, the reason I have access to one persons email is because they needed help stopping another person who knew their password reading every email they sent and received. In spite of my urging they have yet to change their password anew to also lock me out.

You can lead a horse to water, and if you Duct Tape a hose to its mouth, you can make it drink too.

Oh wait...

Unix syndrome

[QuantumG]

Anything that isn't prohibited is not only allowed, but also ethical.

Ethics on an MBA?

[edittard]

Ethics on an MBA - do the marks from this module get subtracted from your overall score?

Re:Reading users email?

[ozmanjusri]

Anyone who has time to read peoples email obviously isn't busy enough (and is easily amused).

You clearly need to read the canonical guide [iinet.net.au] to sysadmin ethics.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

i read your e-mail

[Tribbin]

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/frustrations/31fb/ [thinkgeek.com]

Re:Ethically speaking

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

I never read slshdot.

...or at least its title.

Re:ethics require education

[Anonymous Coward]

Do I read it? Nope.

...

they have yet to change their password anew to also lock me out.

And how do you know they haven't changed their password yet? :)

Talking of reading other people's emails...

[adrianmsmith]

A friend of a friend was working in IT as a Windows administrator. He was called to fix someone's computer, who then went out to lunch leaving the friend alone with the computer. He saw a mail on the computer that he found interesting, so he forwarded it to himself.

This is surely a bad thing to do, and the end of the story is that he got fired, but he probably would have got away with it apart from the mistake he made....

He managed to spell his own name wrong in his email address. So when the guy got back from lunch, there was a bounce mail waiting for him in his inbox....

Re:You need to clarify your question

[lorenzino]

Think of it as the difference between a politician and a serial killer.

Sorry, what difference again ?

Re:sudo

[ideonode]

It usually boils down to these two things:
                                #1) Respect the privacy of others.
                                #2) Think before you type.
                                #3) With great power comes great responsibility.

Re:You need to clarify your question

[mux2000]

You didn't read your own links, did you? From your Wikipedia link:

Psychopathy is a psychological construct describing immoral and antisocial behavior.[1] The term is often used interchangeably with sociopathy[2].

Actually, the difference between a politician and a serial killer is the amplitude of the mental disorder, not its type. Politicians obviously have it much harder.

Re:You need to clarify your question

[frodo from middle ea]

Serial Killers are selective about who they kill.

Re:CYA

[nr1]

Reminds me of something a friend said:

"Management is like using toilet paper. In the end, the only thing that matters is that your ass is clean."
http://www.conspirito.de/2007/09/management-weiheit-der-woche.html [conspirito.de]

Re:You need to clarify your question

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahhhh.... the old one-kills-many Vs. many-want-to-kill-the-one comparison.

Re:You need to clarify your question

[Anonymous Coward]

There's also an ancient saying that goes like this:

Man, when you get home tonight, beat your wife. You may not know why you're doing it, but she does.

Re:Unix syndrome

[Anonymous Coward]

"[T]he principle of keeping things simple" is something my grandfather taught me, while something along the lines of "ethics is insisting on doing what's right even when no one is looking..." is what my mother taught me.

My grandmother mostly taught me how to cook for an army, and also had me genuinely convinced that there was something wrong with black people. Took me years to figure out she's just incredibly racist.

Re:You need to clarify your question

[Hal_Porter]

sudo rm -rf /home/gandhi/

Re:Ethics on an MBA?

[Bastard of Subhumani]

"Business Ethics" Does this joke need explaining?

None of my colleagues here in military intelligence got it...

the worst thing I ever did as a sysadmin

[Anonymous Coward]

The worst thing I ever did as a sysadmin: a coworker of mine attempted to apply for a job somewhere else, and accidentally sent the cover letter & resume to our boss. At her request, I deleted that message from his inbox before he'd had the chance to read it.

I know that this is pretty small potatoes, but it still bugs me.

Re:You need to clarify your question

[syousef]

Think of it as the difference between a politician and a serial killer.

What if the politician IS a serial killer. Like Hitler. Oh shit wait. I just invoked Godwin! I'm meeelllltttinngggg!!!!!!