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Are Computer Hacker Break Ins Ethical? Essay

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Are Computer Hacker Break-ins Ethical? - Eugene H. Spafford
Essay Assignment

The words Ethics and computers have gone hand in hand since the WW2 when MIT professor Norbert Wiener and his team designed the anti-aircraft cannon that could gun down a warplane and pioneered a new field of research in information feedback known as Cybernetics. I think the need for computer ethics and fundamentals emerged ever since the first computers were designed and we realized that these machines could one day make our lives easier and societies would eventually be dependent on these computers on a daily basis. I believe that anybody, be it the government, a major company or an organization looking into ethics must define a set of ethical program and requirement guidelines that could and should be met. Ethics, in my opinion would stand for good action resulting in a positive result under a given situation. The same would extend to computers.
Spafford has rightly articulated that an action cannot be deemed as ethical if it is universally accepted. Individuals need to assess the consequences of a computer break-in, is it valid and is it a necessary course of action for a positive result or a greater good. If the course of the action is malicious then this should be deemed as unethical. I would also agree with Ms. Stafford arguments that there are situations where an unethical course of action may be necessary for a greater good, but what is this greater good? Would there be a valid

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