10. The Boundaries of Cybersecurity: Ethics, Rights, and Laws 263 10.1.2 Ethics and Social Responsibility “Computing professionals’ actions change the world. To act responsibly, they should reflect upon the wider impacts of their work, consistently supporting the public good. The ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (‘the Code’) expresses the conscience of the profession.” - “Preamble,” The ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct Social responsibility is the proposition that professionals and organizations have an obligation to promote the welfare of society. The guidelines and motivation for social responsibility rests on ethical frameworks. Company slogans like “don’t be evil” or “do the right thing” point to a commitment to social responsibility and help remind company employees that ethical concerns are more important than profits. Because of the increasingly critical role that software plays in our lives, many people feel that software engineers have a social responsibility to develop easy to use and high quality, reliable software. Do cybersecurity professionals bear any social responsibility for their actions? The benefits of technology increase as it is networked together; therefore, all technology is moving into cyberspace. A secure cyberspace is becoming increasingly important to the proper functioning of the economy, the well-being of the citizenry, and to the safeguarding of our freedoms. Many people feel vulnerable and confused by technology and cyberspace even as they depend upon it on a daily basis. Cybersecurity seeks to protect the rights of individuals and organizations in cyberspace. Cybersecurity professionals and ethical hackers are in a trusted position of privilege and power. They have a social responsibility to use their knowledge, skills, and abilities to promote the welfare of society. Professions in which people must place their trust and that carry a significant level of responsibility for the welfare of the public, often have codes of ethics that provide moral guidance to the professionals working in those fields. These codes are usually crafted and maintained by the professional societies of those fields. Codes of ethics are not laws, but, for some professions, like law and medicine, violations of the code could result in the forfeiture of one’s license to practice. For professions not requiring a license to practice, a violation could result in being removed from the membership of professional societies of those fields. If professional misconduct does result in harm that leads to prosecution, attorneys might use a code of ethics to bolster their case, arguing that the actions of the accused were understood to be wrong by professionals in that field. Having a code of ethics imbues a profession with dignity and elevates the status of those who work in that profession in the eyes of the society. A code of ethics provides moral guidance to professionals—it helps to clarify grey areas and fill in gaps where the law is silent. Having a prominent and highly visible code of ethics removes plausible deniability for those who practice unethical behaviors—they cannot reasonably say that they did not know certain actions were considered wrong by their peers.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=