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Cyber Security Ethics

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The issue of ethics has not been traditionally identified as a crucial aspect that should be

considered in the relationship between cyber security ethics and software engineering ethics. For

many years, software development had not been considered an important factor to consider, and

with fewer technological advancements in the previous years, people's security and essential data

had been secured as people were less involved in apps and other forms of modern technology

that requires people to leave personal data and other important details online. However, we are

now in 2022, and technology is becoming part of our daily lives, which raises issues about the

credibility of modern-day cyber security and its relationship with software engineering ethics.

Although these two issues might seem to represent different fields and requirements, they are

closely related in various aspects and have been identified to have real ramifications on

individuals.
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Generally, cyber security protects mobile devices, data, and computer networks from

being accessed by individuals or even organizations that have not been authorized. This is

certainly regarded as a much bigger task, and with the continuity of modern-day connection,

there is a need to address this specific issue (Atoum et al., 2019). It involves protection from

malware, the construction of firewalls, penetration testing, and software development.

Furthermore, cyber security is also detailed and has been regarded as a crucial aspect of digital

forensics as it helps determine and analyze how an attack is intended to occur. Cyber security

and software engineering programs sometimes require proper and consistent monitoring of

various software systems and updating multiple techniques and technologies. With important

advancements in the field of software engineering and its impact on daily lives, which sometimes

involves connecting people regardless of geographical location or even distance, the need to

have a stable firewall and properly developed cyber security techniques is crucial in making sure

that hackers are not able to access unauthorized information. With their creativity and ability to

come up with new ideas, the issue of cyber security and its relationship with software

engineering must be addressed.

Software engineers heavily depend on cyber security to test, evaluate and maintain new

software. They are generally expected to create usable software, algorithms, mathematics,

programming language, information technology, and a deep understanding of information

technology. Computer engineers are sometimes required to develop software for computer

devices or networks. All this effort requires security; however, regardless of experiencing attacks

from external sources such as hackers, the issue of ethics in software development has been

highlighted as a problem that starts with the engineers themselves and has been identified as a

part of the ethical issues that are being discussed today.

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Issues

Algorithm bias

According to multiple research regarding the issue relationship between cyber security

ethics and software engineering is algorithm bias. The issue of preferences is often regarded as a

virus entering the system undetected. With efforts to have few cases of unauthorized visits of

websites and apps throughout the software engineering field, the issue of business is often not

addressed, which makes it challenging to come up with a concrete solution that will safeguard

the interest of the intended software without necessarily not being biased (Christen et al., 2020).

According to Spencer Lentz, a certified AI expert, computers have no moral framework, and

software can only operate according to the training they receive from their developers.

Therefore, for the protection of personal data and other important issues to be addressed by cyber

security engineers, developers have no obligation to scrub bias from their development of the

algorithm they intend to build. For instance, there has been specific bias, and software

engineering has been addressed as an issue in systemic racism in some cases. This has been

discussed as an issue that increases incineration rates, worsens medical care, and creates lost

opportunities for certain populations. For instance, when a book titled Race after Technology

was first released in the market, developers were accused of biases and the inability to include

black people's voices. The training of AI speech was addressed as racist, and believing that black

people would not use the algorithm was identified as a backward and retrogressive idea.

In 2020, a data science platform regarded as Anacondarevealed that for cyber security efforts to

be appreciated in protecting and monitoring, developers, data scientists, and models have no

obligation but to have an institution that creates an organizational culture that empowers

individuals and establishes and empowers ethical guidelines from all forms of software
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engineering at any level of development of the required logarithm if at all the future of cyber

security and software engineering is expected to have something concrete regarding the overall

security requirements and other important issues were to be addressed (Rashid et al., 2018). With

the desire to take software engineering to the next level and have cyber security followed to the

latter, analysts argue that it is important to consider the establishment of a collective organization

that has the mandate to have oversight and monitor various AI activities across the Globe or even

in the US, just like the establishment of American Medical Association for doctors. With an

establishment of such an industry, ethical standards would be developed, basically derived from

collective input and intelligence, rather than having individual peoples and organizations decide

for themselves on how to tackle such issues.

Prioritization of impacts over the impact

Prioritization of features over impact in most cases, companies, and institutions are

always in a race to prioritize software releases and often overlook their effects on society.

According to research, if the success and development of any company are measured according

to the efforts made by software engineers to develop specific algorithms and often overlooking

the issue of ethics and its importance, it would not be easy to realize the importance of ethics as a

crucial part of the job (Rashid et al., 2018). Not having specific guidelines and important ethical

standards that any institution should follow means that there is a high tendency for the users to

be subjected to various unethical processes as they utilize the developed algorithms. In this case,

one of the most important things to consider is teaching testers, architects, and tech developers

about customer expectations and how they should comply with specific data management

practices to satisfy the users and safeguard their interests. Also, it is essential to reflect ethical

priorities in various aspects of software life cycles in various steps of design and operation.
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Collaboration between legal teams and engineering can deter themselves from issues related to

ethical shortcomings if they work together to safeguard their users' interests. For instance,

forcusing on customer data access and retention should be addressed as a priority, and all

algorithms' consumers should be considered an essential aspect of the algorithms. Logging

mechanisms and data access controls are some of the issues that should be considered in the

relationship between the relationship of ethical problems and software engineering, and any

developer should understand that regardless of any technology or anything developed by the

engineers, the probity is to serve the people and their interests should be safeguarded.
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References

Atoum, I., Otoom, A., & Ali, A. A. (2019). A holistic cyber security implementation framework.

Information Management & Computer Security.

Christen, M., Gordijn, B., & Loi, M. (2020). The ethics of cybersecurity (p. 384). Springer

Nature.

Macnish, K., & van der Ham, J. (2020). Ethics in cybersecurity research and practice.

Technology in society, 63, 101382.

Rashid, A., Danezis, G., Chivers, H., Lupu, E., Martin, A., Lewis, M., & Peersman, C. (2018).

Scoping the cyber security body of knowledge. IEEE Security & Privacy, 16(3), 96-102.