Technology Advancements Raise Ethical Issues

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BIS/220 The evolution of information technology (IT) raises many ethical issues, resulting in the creation and amendment of certain Acts. The advancements of IT influence society’s dependence, and consequentially increase vulnerability. Every piece of information stored in databases is potentially at risk. There are numerous ways to attack other computer systems, leaving personal data exposed to privacy concerns. This includes theft, fraud, and other types of misuse. This invasion of privacy and security requires the government to develop up to date laws, so that each individual can feel confident in a world of evolving technology. Extreme progression of computer technology from the early 1960’s-late 1980’s has caused Congress to form the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 The government has used several database systems since the 1960’s. IBM Corporation presented their personal computer, the IBM-PC, in1981 (Zegarelli, 2002). Because of IBM’s presence in the marketplace, the IBM-PC was mass-produced, vastly marketed and reasonably priced. This resulted in a population growth of computer and software literates. It was essential for the government to find ways to protect data. They did so by applying encryption around sensitive files (Lerner, 2012). Nevertheless, with the rapid advancements of IT, including computer-to-computer communication, breaking into other computer systems, also known as hacking, became widespread. In 1981, twenty-four year old, Ian Murphy demonstrated the government’s vulnerability. He hacked into several government databases, including the White House switchboard. At this time, computer crime laws, such as trespassing, fraud, and abuse were nonexistent. Thus, prosecutors were unable to match the conviction to the crimes. In the

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