Legal and Ethical Issues in Computer Security
Why Laws
The laws of computer security affect programmers, designers, users, and maintainers of computing systems and computerised data banks.
These laws provide protection, but they also regulate the behaviour of people who use computers.
Before recommending change, however, professionals must understand the current state of computers and the law.
Objectives of Understanding Legal Section
Therefore, there are three motivations for studying the legal section
– to know what protection the law provides for computers and data;
– to appreciate laws that protect the rights of others with respect to computers, programs, and data; and
– to understand existing laws as a basis for recommending new laws to protect computers, data, and people.
Protecting Programs and Data
• Copyrights
Copyrights are designed to protect the expression of ideas. Thus, a copyright applies to a creative work, such as a story, photograph, song, or pencil sketch. The right to copy an expression of an idea is protected by a copyright.
Copyright gives the author/programmer exclusive right to make copies of the expression and sell them to the public. That is, only the author can sell copies of the author’s book (except, of course, for booksellers or others working as the agents of the author).
Copyrights for Computer Works
Can a computer program be copyrighted?
YES. The algorithm is the idea, and the statements of the programming language are the expression of the idea.
Therefore, protection is allowed for the program statements themselves, but not for the design: copying the code intact is prohibited, but reimplementing the algorithm is permitted.
Patents
Patents are unlike copyrights in that they protect inventions, not works of the mind.
The distinction between patents and copyrights is that patents were intended to apply to the results of science, technology, and engineering, whereas copyrights were meant to cover works in the arts, literature, and written scholarship.
Patents - Computer Objects
The patent has not encouraged patents of computer software.
For a long time, computer programs were seen as the representation of an algorithm was a fact of nature, which is not subject to patent.
There was a case on a request to patent a process for converting decimal numbers into binary. The Supreme Court rejected the claim, saying it seemed to attempt to patent an abstract idea, in short, an algorithm. But the underlying algorithm is precisely what most software developers would like to protect.
Trade Secret
A trade secret is information that gives one company a competitive edge over others. For example, the formula for a soft drink is a trade secret, as is a mailing list of customers, or information about a product due to be announced in a few months.
The distinguishing characteristic of a trade secret is that it must always be kept secret. The owner must take precautions to protect the secret, such as storing it in a safe, encrypting it in a computer file, or making employees sign a statement that they will not disclose the secret.
Comparisons
Employers hire employees to generate ideas and make products. Thus, the protection offered by copyrights, patents, and trade secrets applies to the idea and products.
However, considering the issue of who owns the ideas and products is much more complex.
Why Computer Crime is Hard to Define?
Understanding
Neither courts, lawyers, police agents, nor jurors necessarily understand computers.
Fingerprints
Polices and courts for years depended on tangible evidence, such as fingerprints. But with many c omputer crimes there simply are no fingerprints, no physical clues.
Form of Assets
We know what cash is, or diamonds, or even negotiable securities. But are 20 invisible magnetic spots really equivalent to a million dollars?
Juveniles
Many computer crimes involve juveniles. Society understands immaturity and can treat even very serious crimes by juveniles as being done with less understanding than when the same crime is committed by an adult.
Type of Crimes Committed
Telecommunications Fraud
It is defined as avoiding paying telephone charges by misrepresentation as a legitimate user.
Embezzlement
It involves using the computer to steal or divert funds illegally.
Hacking
It denotes a compulsive programmer or user who explores, tests, and pushes computers and communications system to their limits - often illegal activities.
Automatic Teller Machine Fraud
It involves using an ATM machine for a fraudulent activity - faking deposits, erasing withdrawals, diverting funds from another person’s account through stolen PIN numbers.
Records Tampering
It involves the alteration, loss, or destruction of computerised records.
Acts of Disgruntled Employees
They often use a computer for revenge against their employer.
Child Pornography and Abuse
They are illegal or inappropriate arts of a sexual nature committed with a minor or child, such as photographing or videotaping.
What are Ethics?
Society relies on ethics or morals to prescribe generally accepted standards of proper behaviour.
An ethic is an objectively defined standard of right and wrong within a group of individuals.
These ethics may influence by religious believe. Therefore, through choices, each person defines a personal set of ethical practices.
A set of ethical principles is called and ethical system.
Differences of The Law and Ethics
Firstly, laws apply to every one, even you do not agree with the laws. However, you are forced to respect and obey the laws.
Secondly, there is a regular process through the courts for determining which law supersedes which if two laws conflict.
Thirdly, the laws and the courts identify certain actions as right and others as wrong. From a legal standpoint, anything that is not illegal is right.
Finally, laws can be enforced, and there are ways to rectify wrongs done by unlawful behaviour.
