Cyberethics is a branch of computer technology behavior that defines the best practices that must be adopted by a user when he uses the computer system. In simple terms, cyberethics refers to the basic ethics and etiquette that must be followed while using a computer system. Ethics, in general, refers to propagating good behavior, similarly by cyber ethics we refer to propagating good behavior online that is not harsh or rude. Cyberethics governs rules that individuals must be polite and responsible when they use the internet. Cyberethics aim to protect the moral, financial, social behavior of individuals. Cyberethics engages the users to use the internet safely and use technology responsibly and sensibly. Cyberethics empathizes the behavior that must be adopted while using cyber technology.
Some of the breaches of cyberethics are listed below:
- Cyber Bullying: Cyberbullying is a form of bullying carried out via internet technology such as social media where individuals are mocked on their physical appearance, lifestyle, preferences, etc. The teenage generation or say youngsters are the major victims of this form of cyber ethic breach. Cyberbullying affects the emotional ethics of individuals and can cause mental disturbance to individuals.
- Hacking: Stealing a user’s personal or organizational information without authorized permission is not considered a good practice. It is one of the riskiest cyber breaches to data leak. Data leak includes passing of sensitive information such as passwords, bank details of the user to a third-party user who is not authorized to access the information.
- Copywriting: Claiming of another individual as one’s own is another type of cyber ethic breach that must be eradicated. Never engage in copywriting another person’s content or document and claim as it is your own. It leads to a serious problem called plagiarism, which is a punishable offense and considered a legal crime. It is always advisable to follow general cyberethics, while using the internet or say any kind of technology. A proper code of conduct must be followed while using cyber technology. Cyberethics if not used wisely can lead to serious situations. Social and legal laws are defined to use cyber technology wisely. In extreme cases, legal action can be taken if there is a violation of cyber ethics.
Cyber Ethics focuses on the following:
1. Privacy:
- The content that is available on the internet should not hurt any moral, emotional, or personal ethics of individuals.
- Users should have the right to protect any information which they don’t want to share openly.
- Private information like user’s contact details, address, security-related information like bank details, credit card/debit card details, are all included in basic cyber ethics of user privacy and must not be breached in any case.
- Any breach of privacy is theft/fraud of user identity and user personal information, which is punishable as per the rules of law.
2. IPR:
- IPR stands for Intellectual Property Rights.
- IPR defines that the owners have the complete right to the content that is posted on the internet.
- The entire content is solely a belonging of the originator and no individual is allowed to claim that content published by the original creator as its own.
- Unauthorized distribution of someone else’s work should never be adopted as it’s ethically incorrect to not give creation and monetary benefits to the creator of the work.
3. Security:
- Security on the internet is the most basic ethical right that every user must be accessible.
- Users of the internet should feel safe while they surf the net.
- Security, in general means only authorized users to have access to the content on the computer.
- And confidential information is safe, without any risk of loss of information/content.
4. Accuracy:
- The content available on the internet is accessed by billions of users.
- If there is no reliability of the information that is posted online, then it would mislead the masses.
- Cyberethics assert the importance of posting content on the internet that is correct in all aspects.
- Users trust the content of the internet and rely heavily on the internet for facts, therefore it is highly needed that the asked information is correct and reliable.
Best policies that individuals must adopt while using the internet or any kind of technology should include the following:
- Being Polite and not using harsh words.
- Avoid clicking on unknown links.
- Wisely opening Emails from known senders only.
- Not mocking anyone on Social Media.
- Not copying any individual’s work and claiming it as their own. Always cite that you have used someone else’s work.
- Be careful and research before installing any free software.
- Never intrude on another person’s privacy.
- Don’t contribute to any malpractice that can lead to the leak of data of an individual or organization.
- Never engage in Cyberbullying.
- Never compromise with the safety of your system. Always install an anti-virus on your system.