Computer Ethics: Moral Reasoni
Discuss the Threats and Causes of Failure, and Steps Taken to Minimise it. In today's world it is impossible to run a large organisation without the aid of computers. Businesses hold massive amounts of important data, hospitals hold large amounts of confidential patient information and large scientific research projects hold important codes, formulae, and equations. The bottom line is that loss or corruption of this information is sure to result in bankruptcy, a substantial loss of customers, and even world-wide financial meltdown. A dependency on technology is impossible to avoid - even with its fatal consequences. Companies face the worry of information lost through hacking, virus corruption, and even physical threats such as fire and flood. Viruses are the most common threat to companies they can corrupt large amounts of files and data both kinds of virus, biological and electronic, take over the host cell/program and clone their carrier genetic codes by instructing the hosts to make replicas of the viruses. Neither kind of virus, however, can replicate themselves independently; they are pieces of code that attach themselves to other cells/programs, Just as biological viruses need a host cell,
And it is vital for any company to have an advanced anti-virus package. That is not to say that the companies are foolish, for the amount spent on prevention is only a fraction of that which would be forfeited from loss. Stephen Fleming a BT employee gained access to a database that contained hundreds of top secret phone numbers and addresses of government installations. It is very sensible for every computer owner to have an anti-virus package. It is rather scary to think that we risk so much money and even lives over the loss of simple data. Looking at the amount of backup created you may think that it is absurd. " Other worrying viruses include "Pathogen" which was created by Christopher Pile. Police managed to catch him, and he was threatened to prosecution under the first category of the computer misuse act. But for the business it secures information, any master data that is lost can just be brought up from backup files. Meanwhile BT tightened their security. This means that damage to one building forces the company to recall their backup files from the other building which will not have sustained damage (unless the company has very bad luck!) Companies taking these precautions spend a huge amount of money on them. While it caused little in the way of data damage (some richly inflated initial estimates reckoned up to $100m in down time), the ramifications of the Internet virus have helped to generate a moral panic that has all but transformed everyday "computer culture. computer viruses require a host program to activate them.
Common topics in this essay:
Dr Solomon's,
Steps Minimise,
Meanwhile BT,
Santa Clara,
Pentagon's ARPAnet,
Fleming BT,
Christopher Pile,
Robert Morris,
backup files,
Cornell University,
computer misuse,
fire flood,
anti-virus package,
anti-virus software,
files building,
backup files building,
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Acceptance Essays
