Throughout your lives and when interacting with others, you may encounter or participate in situations when technology and ethics collide. The Assignment in this unit gives topical examples to challenge your thinking on ethical behavior. In addition, you will see how information technology can be used as an enabler.

Select three of the five topics from the short essay questions at end of Chapter 5 in your text. Write 1–2-page paper on each topic using APA formatting.

Topic 1: A federal statute requires banks to give their customers “quick access” to funds from deposited checks. Given the problems we have seen with counterfeit checks, do you think this is a good law? Carefully assess all sides of the issue. If you could influence the federal government, how would you advise it to change or improve the law?

Topic 2: Reports on computer crime (not including software piracy and hacking among computer crimes) in newspapers and journals seem to be decreasing. Do as thorough a search as you can for, say, the past six months and document the most recently reported occurrences. Does a pattern seem to emerge about the kinds of reported computer crime that are popular this year?

Topic 3: If you were the manager of a bank, how would you try to protect your bank against computerized embezzlement and fraud?

Topic 4: You run a big insurance company, and you are concerned about security. You have the opportunity to hire someone who pulled off a $4 million computer “heist” from another insurance company, has “paid his debt to society,” and is just coming off his six-month stint in jail. Would you hire him as the security expert to protect your company? Discuss.

Topic 5: Chapter 4 deals with software piracy, this chapter deals with computer crime, and Chapter 6 deals with hacking and computer break-ins. Carefully examine the similarities and differences among these three classes of “computer abuse.”

Unit outcomes addressed in this Assignment:

• Describe current events where ethical issues play a fundamental role.
• Compare ethical issues where information was an influence.
• Explain ethical concerns where new technology is used in an organization.

Course outcomes addressed in this Assignment:

IT400-2: Evaluate a broad array of topics including privacy, free speech, information security and law.

Instructions

Each of the three documents should be at least 1–2 pages, double spaced, and, include title and reference pages. It must follow APA Style and contain no spelling or grammar errors. Submit to the Unit 4 Dropbox upon completion.

Select three out of the five topics from the short essay questions at end of Chapter 5 in your text. Write a 1–2-page paper on each topic using APA formatting.