Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
computers. To system administrators, it looks just like another worm, and they
battle its spread the same way they fight all other worms [5].
Analysis
These fundamental principles are most relevant to the antiworm scenario:
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Continually improve your abilities.
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Share your knowledge, expertise, and values.
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Respect the rights of others.
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Take responsibility for your actions and inactions.
Examining the list of clauses associated with each of these fundamental
principles reveals those that are most relevant to our case study:
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1.01. Accept full responsibility for their own work.
Tim tried to prevent others from discovering that he was the author of the
antiworm. He did not accept responsibility for what he had done.
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1.08. Be encouraged to volunteer professional skills to good causes and
contribute to public education concerning the discipline.
The antiworm did something good by patching security holes in PCs.
Tim provided the antiworm to the Internet community without charge.
However, system administrators spent a lot of time trying to halt the spread
of the antiworm, a harmful effect.
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2.03. Use the property of a client or employer only in ways properly authorized,
and with the client's or employer's knowledge and consent.
Tim's “client” is the community of Internet PC owners who happen to
use the operating system with the security hole. While his antiworm was
designed to benefit them, it entered their systems without their knowledge
or consent. The antiworm also consumed a great deal of network bandwidth
without the consent of the relevant telecommunications companies.
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8.01. Further their knowledge of developments in the analysis, specification,
design, development, maintenance, and testing of software and related
documents, together with the management of the development process.
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8.02. Improve their ability to create safe, reliable, and useful quality software
at reasonable cost and within a reasonable time.
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8.06. Improve their knowledge of this Code, its interpretations and its applica-
tion to their work.
Tim followed the letter of the first two of these three clauses when he
acquired a copy of the worm, figured out how it worked, and created a
reliable antiworm in a short period of time. The experience improved his
knowledge and skills. Perhaps he should invest some time improving his
ability to interpret and use the Code of Ethics!
According to some of these principles, Tim did the right thing. According
to others, Tim was wrong to release the antiworm. How do we resolve this
dilemma? We can simplify our analysis by deciding that Tim's welfare is less
