CSCI415 - Ethics, Law and Cybersecurity Assignment- Texas A&M University
Instructions: There are three (3) topic areas listed below that are designed to measure your knowledge level specific to learning outcome shown in your course syllabus. You must respond to #1 and select any other one of these topic areas providing appropriate responses in essay form. In most cases the topic area has several components. Each must be addressed to properly satisfy requirements.
State-wide and in most professional industries, there has been a mandate that college students be more proficient in their writing. While this is not a writing class, all writing assignments will be graded for grammar, syntax and typographical correctness to help address this mandate.
Pay attention to what you are being asked to do (see Grading Rubric below). For example, to describe does not mean to list, but to tell about or illustrate in more than two or three sentences, providing appropriate arguments for your responses using theories discussed in our text. Be sure to address all parts of the topic question as most have multiple parts. A verifiable current event (less than 4 years old) relevant to at least one of the topics you respond to is a fundamental component of your quiz as well. You cannot use information from the text book or any book/article by the author of the text book as a current event. Make sure that your reference has a date of publication. For each chapter quiz and final quiz you are required to find and include at least one reference and reference citation to a current event less than 4 years old (a reference with no date (n.d.) is not acceptable) in answer to at least one question. This requires a reference citation in the text of your answer and a reference at the end of the question to which the reference applies. You must include some information obtained from the reference in your answer. The references must be found on the internet and you must include a URL in your reference so that the reference can be verified.
1. Strong arguments can be given as to why encryption tools are needed to safeguard communications in cyberspace, yet these tools can be used by terrorists and criminals to protect their communications in cyberspace. (a) In the wake of September 11, can a case be made for not allowing ordinary users to employ strong encryption tools in Internet communications? (b) Can we still claim to live in a free society if plans for government interception of email communications, as provided for in the Homeland Security Act , are be implemented? Please elaborate (beyond a yes or no answer) and provide your "theoretical" rationale in support of your responses. (comprehension)
2. In the discussion of Internet anonymity, some forms of anonymous behavior in cyberspace can have profound ethical implications. Imagine that there is a very close political election involving two candidates who are running for a seat in a state legislature. The weekend before citizens will cast their votes, one candidate decides to defame his opponent by using an anonymous remailer service (which strips away the original address of the sender of the email) to send a message of questionable truth to an electronic distribution list of his opponent's supporters. The information included in this email is so defamatory that it may threaten the outcome of the election by influencing many undecided voters, as well as the libeled candidate's regular supports, to vote against her. (a) Does the "injured" candidate in this instance have the right to demand that the identity of the person using the anonymous remailer (who she suspects for good reasons to be her opponent in this election) be revealed? (b) Why or why not? Please elaborate (beyond a yes or no answer) and provide your "theoretical" rationale in support of your responses. (comprehension)
3. Is the expression "ethical hacker" an oxymoron? (a) Do you agree that some individuals should be allowed to be "certified" as hackers to work on behalf of industry or for the interest of other organizations? (b) Do the kinds of activities permitted by certified hackers in the CEH program raise any moral issues? Explain. Please elaborate (beyond a yes or no answer) and provide your "theoretical" rationale in support of your responses.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.