Descrition

  • This course addresses several of the major ethical and policy issues that are changing the way engineers think about information and communication technologies.
  • This course will cover three broad categories Cybersafety, Cyberethics and Cybersecurity (C3) and how they are interrelated, providing the opportunity for vigorous discussion and exploration of the complex issues involved in C3 technology policy. Through a variety of case studies and group work, detailing IT issues, recent case law, position papers, original articles and resources, as well as scenarios for discussion, student will give consideration to responses that can be applied in their own organization.

Course objectives

  • This course introduces students to the topics of information technology ethics including: definitions, rules & policies of computer ethics, hacking, viruses, Internet ethics, freedom of expression on the Internet, computer professionals and social responsibilities, software copyright, intellectual property, software piracy, cyber law and privacy & security of computerized information.
  • After taking this course, the students should all be able to:
    • CO1. Demonstrate an understanding of the basic elements of ethics in Information Technology, including moral, ethics, law, business ethics, corporate code of ethics, ethical work environment, privacy, computer crimes, freedom of expression, intellectual property, advanced surveillance technologies.
    • CO2. Demonstrate an understanding of characteristics of a IT professional and key ethical issues the professional must manage.
    • CO3. Demonstrate an understanding of ethical issues and risk in successful and secure use of information technology
    • CO4. Demonstrate ability to apply tools, strategies, approaches and techniques to identify ethical issues such as thieves, hacking, plagiarism, cybersquatting…
    • CO5. Demonstrate ability to recall the impacts of IT on quality of life and issues related to social networking and ethical issues in IT Organization
    • CO6. Demonstrate ability to analyze ethical issues in a practical circumstance
    • CO7: Demonstrate ethical analysis skills and abilities such as communication, project management, problem-solving and teamwork skills

Learning outcomes

  • LO1.1 Define moral, ethic and law. Discuss about their differences
  • LO1.2 Explain the importance of good business ethics, and the way to establish Corporate Code of Ethics
  • LO1.3 Explain the way to create an ethical work environment for an organization
  • LO1.4 Expain a decision making process and discuss about the approaches to ethical decision making
  • LO1.5 Discuss about privacy, privacy protection, information privacy, privacy law, application and Court Ruling
  • LO1.6 Discuss about Privacy issues come with Workplace Monitoring Policy and Advanced Surveillance Technology
  • LO1.7 Discuss about computer crimes, freedom of expression, intellectual property, advanced surveillance technologies
  • LO2.1 Discuss about IT professional relationships: between IT professionals with employers, clients, suppliers, other professionals, IT users and society
  • LO2.2 Explain Benefits of Professional Code of Ethics
  • LO2.3 Discuss about Professional Organizations and Professional Certificate
  • LO2.4 Discuss Government Licensing and issues associated with government licensing of IT professionals
  • LO2.5 Discuss about IT Professional Malpractice, IT users’ ethical issues and the role of IT usage policy in supporting the ethical practices of IT users
  • LO3.1 Discuss about ethical issues and risks on network era
  • LO3.2 Explain about type of attack on a networked computer such as viruses, worms, trojan horses, botnets, DOS and DDOS attack, Rootkits, Spam, Phishing
  • LO3.3 Distinguish type of perpetrators such as hackers, crackers, malicious insiders, Industrial Spies, Cybercriminals, Hacktivists and Cyberterrorists
  • LO3.4 Discuss about Laws for prosecuting computer attacks
  • LO3.5 Practice and Discuss on Law on Cyber Security in Viet Nam
  • LO3.6 Discuss about Trustworthy computing and how to implement it
  • LO3.7 Discuss about process of assessing security-related risks and estabilishing a security policy
  • LO4.1 Discuss about 4 approaches used by identity theft and explain of using Identity Theft Monitoring Service
  • LO4.2 Discuss about consumer profiling methods and how to use checklist for treating consumer data responsibly
  • LO4.3 Discuss about Privacy issues come with Workplace Monitoring Policy and Advanced Surveillance Technology
  • LO4.4 List about typical Plagiarism detection services and systems, and how to use those systems to combat with plagiarism
  • LO4.5 Discuss about protecting software from Reverse Engineering by software license agreements, Open Source Code licenses
  • LO4.6 Explain how the manager’s checklist do supporting for running an ethical competitive intelligence
  • LO4.7 Discuss about Cybersquatting and how to curb it
  • LO4.8 Discuss about Software Development Processes and security ethical issues related to safety-critical system development
  • LO5.1 State the impacts of IT on quality of life
  • LO5.2 Identify issues related to social networking
  • LO5.3 Explain ethical issues in IT Organization
  • LO6.1 Examine ethical issues on a case study
  • LO7.1 Organize a group to perform ethical analysis process
  • LO7.2 Plan an ethical analysis project
  • LO7.3 Coordinate group work by applying schedule management techniques
  • LO7.4 Implement tasks which has been assigned

Assessment scheme

  • On-going assessment:
    • Class participation/preparation: 20%
    • Progress Test (3): 15%
    • Individual Writing Assignment: 10%
    • Case Study Presentation: 10%
    • Group assignment: 15%
  • Final exam: 30%
  • Completion Criteria: Every on-going assessment component > 0 & Final Result >=5 & Final Exam Score >= 4

Course schedule

Course introduction

  1. Overview of Ethics
    • Discussion questions: Individual Writing Assignment Introduction
  2. Ethics for IT Professionals and IT Users
    • Discussion questions (Individual Writing Assignment Review)
  3. Computer and Internet Crime
    • Progress Test 1 & Review
    • Discussion questions (Individual Writing Assignment Review)
  4. Privacy
    • Discussion questions (Individual Writing Assignment Review)
  5. Freedom of Expression
    • Discussion questions (Individual Writing Assignment Review)
    • Case-study investigation and presentation about Cyber Law of Viet Nam
    • Discussion questions (Group Assignment Introduction)
  6. Intellectual Property
    • Progress Test 2 & Review
  7. Software Development
    • Individual Writing Assignment Peer-Review
    • Discussion questions (Group Assignment Review)
  8. The Impact of Information Technology on the Quality of Life
    • Discussion questions (Group Assignment Review)
  9. Social Networking
    • Discussion questions (Group Assignment Review)
  10. Ethics of IT Organizations
    • Progress Test 3 & Review
    • Individual Assignment Evaluation (Group Assignment Presentation: Free Topics on IT Ethics but NOT including in the textbook (see appendix 2).

Reference

  • Ralph Stair, George Reynolds, Principles of Information Systems, 13th Edition, Cengage Learning, 2018, ISBN: 978-1-305-97177-6 (Chapter 13: Cybercrime and Information System Security and Chapter 14: Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues of Information Systems).
  • Michael Whitman, Herbert Mattord, Management of Information Security, 5th Edition, Cengage Learning, 2017, ISBN: 978-1-305-50125-6 (Chapter 2: Compliance: Law and Ethics).
  • Michael Whitman, Herbert Mattord, Principles of Information Security, 6th Edition, Cengage Learning, 2018, ISBN: 978-1-337-10206-3 (Chapter 3: Legal, Ethical, and Professional Issues in Information Security).
  • Michael Whitman, Herbert Mattord, Readings and Cases in Information Security: Law and Ethics, Cengage Learning, 2011, ISBN-13: 978-1-4354-4157-6, ISBN-10: 1-4354-4157-5.
  • Vietnamese Laws on Cybersecurity (en), Internet resources.
  • Code of Ethics of the Information Processing Society of Japan: http://www.ipsj.or.jp/english/somu/ipsjcode/ipsjcode_e.html
  • Code of ethics of FPT Software
  • UNESCO - Ethical Dimensions of the Information Society, 12-14 March 2008, Hanoi, Vietnam: http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php&URL_ID=26043&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html