CYBERETHICS

   CYBERETHICS   

INTRODUCTION

We live in a world at a time which is often called information age where information is freely available from any part of the world. 

The Internet has revolutionized the world and people are getting used to having access to whatever information they want anytime, anywhere and from a wider and wider range of computing devices.

All this has made available to us an abundance of information, but with it comes responsibility responsibility of using this information and technologies, ethically.

WHAT IS CYBERETHICS?

The extensive availability of computers and Internet connections provides unprecedented opportunities to communicate and learn.

Unfortunately the most people use the internet as a powerful and useful tool for communication and education, some individuals use the power of the internet for criminal or terrorist purposes. 

It is minimize the harm that such individuals do by learning ourselves, and training young people, how to use the Internet safely and responsibly. 

The word cyber ethics refers to a code of safe and responsible behavior for the Internet community. 

Practicing good cyber ethics involves understanding the risks of harmful and illegal behavior online and learn how to protect ourselves, and other Internet users, from such behavior. 

It also involves teaching young people that may not realize the possible for harm to themselves and others, that use the Internet safely and responsibly. 

For example at an near the beginning age, children learn what it means to be honest, and to respect the rights and property of others. 

They are trained to not take what does not belong to them, and to be understanding of others. 

On the internet that is same basic rules apply to person. 

The information and relations below offer guidance and property for parents and educators and for young people so that they can develop good cyber ethics, and to get the most out of the exciting new world of the internet.

CYBERETHICS FOR E-COMMERCE

E-commerce is one such platform where ethics go hand-in-hand with the credibility of any website. 

With the increase use of social media and dependency on online transactions, it is quite evident that business enterprises need to strictly maintain a healthy regime in case of their work ethics, be it saving details of the user including name, addresses, profile picture, bank information, etc. 

There is rapid misuse of all this information by spammers and hackers who get access to all these details and may wipe out our hard-earned money or even leak vital information on net.

LET'S ABOUT ABOUT ETHICS FOR E-COMMERCE:- 

1. PRIVACY 

It refers to the protection of personal information given online while carrying out some online activity or transaction. In E-commerce especially, it is related to a company's policies on the use of user data.

HOW TO SAFEGUARD PRIVACY?

1. Set Clear Ownership
2. Review Other Ecommerce Privacy Policies
3. Audit Your Privacy Practices
4. Write Your Privacy Policy Statement
5. Post and Communicate 
6. Maintain and Update

2. FRAUD 

Fraud committed using the Internet is called Online fraud. Online fraud may occur in many forms such as:

→ Non-delivered goods

→Non-existent companies

→Stealing information

→ Fraudulent payments etc.

MEASURES TO STOP FRAUD:

→ A monitoring official body that ensures the sanctity of E-commerce Company and delivery of goods/services as promised.

→ Strong security mechanism by the e-commerce site and payment gateways to prevent stealing of crucial information.

→ Official guidelines and safeguards on the selling of users' data to third parties.

3. SECURE DATA TRANSMISSION 

Secure data transmission means applying enough technical safeguards so that data travels safely to its target, without being compromised or eavesdropped.

SSL secure data transmission. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a standard security protocol which establishes encrypted links between a web server and a browser in an online communication. The usage of SSL technology ensures that all data transmitted between the web server and browser remains encrypted and hence remains safe.

(ii) Data encryption. Encrypted data when sent over Internet is hard to steal and hence is safer.

(iii) Use safe protocols such as for files, use Secure FTP. Wherever possible, one should use safe protocols that use some safety shells such as SSH. It will ensure the safety of data being transferred.

OTHER ETHICAL ISSUES

1. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS 

Intellectual property rights are legal rights that provide creators protection for original works, inventions, or the appearance of products, artistic works, scientific developments, and so on. There are four types of intellectual property rights (IP): patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets

The intellectual property rights must be protected for it:

➡ encourages individuals and businesses to create new software and new software applications, as well as improving existing applications,

➡ ensures new ideas and technologies are widely distributed,

➡ promotes investment in the national economy.

2. PLAGIARISM 

Plagiarism is stealing someone else's intellectual work and representing it as your own work without citing the source of information.

Any of the following acts would be termed as Plagiarism: 

Using some other author's work without giving credit to author.
Using someone else's work in incorrect form than intended originally by the author/creator. 

Modifying/lifting someone's production such as music-composition etc. without attributing it to the creator of the work.

Giving incorrect or incorrect source of information i.e., wrongful citation. Failure in giving credit or acknowledging the contribution of others in a collaborative effort, to which you are also part of.

3. DIGITAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Digital property (or digital assets) refers to any information about you or created by you that exists in digital form, either online or on an electronic storage device. The rights lie with the owner.

THREATS TO DIGITAL PROPERTIES: 

i) DIGITAL SOFTWARE PENETRATION TOOLS

ii) STEALING AND PLAGIARIZING CODES OF YOUR DIGITAL PROPERTIES

DIGITAL PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTION

1. Anti-Temper Solutions. There are many anti-tamper solution available today which ensure that your digital property is tamper proof. These anti-temper solutions use a host of advanced technologies to prevent hackers from hacking, reverse-engineering or manipulating your digital properties such as utility tools, software, apps, video games etc.

2. Legal Clauses. Add legal clause in the clauses of use of your software/digital properties. You must include a transparent clause in your software's Terms of Service that prohibits the scraping of your software's source code for reuse. This is a sound legal backup for you.

3. Limit the sharing of software code. You should share your software code only with trusted individuals who are part of development team. You should also use a Digital Rights Management (DRM) solution to protect your software from being scraped for source code using decompilers etc.