The emergence of new technologies has led to the development of computer-based crimes as perpetrators try to access unauthorized data for personal use. Computer-based crime is an illegal issue using computer software, access or data as the element of a crime and is the most complicated concern in the cyber world. Cybercrime is committed through acts like viruses, worms, Trojan attacks, unauthorized access, information theft, phishing, cyber pornography, logic bombs and cyberstalking. ABC Company recently faced a major cyber attack where its files were deleted or altered by a virus causing massive operational difficulties and substantial losses by the company. The management conducted periodic meetings as they tried to address the issue which had crippled the operations of the company. The company had to result to manual system for one week as the issue was being addressed. The company recovered some of the deleted files which were stored in the cloud but the most recent data was completely lost as the backing takes place after an hour (Schwartz, 2017). From the case scenario of ABC Company, it is necessary to apply a decision-making framework to computer-based crime. The case uses the Reynolds Seven-Step Approach to make a decision that would help the company address the issue.
Reynolds Seven-Step Approach
Facts
Cybercrime is a serious issue that affects the operations of a company. It can lead to the loss of crucial information that can make it hard for the company to continue with its normal operations. The integrity of the information was also questioned as the act affected the company information. The availability of the information was also affected and the company also suffered from unauthorized access to information. Such breaches have a significant effect on the company and its customers. Unauthorised access to company information is a serious ethical issue. Similarly, the integrity of the information has an ethical dimension since such information must not be misleading or used for purposes other than benefiting the company and its stakeholders (Hassim, Kajewski & Trigunarsyah, 2011).
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Ethical Issues
This case involves a corporate level ethical issue where unauthorized access and data integrity affects its ability to conduct its normal operations. Similarly, there are concerns as to whether the confidence of the customers will be retained if they are aware that their information was accessed by an unauthorized person. The company might incur additional costs to secure the system and also to deal with any lawsuits that might be brought against it by an affected party. The cost of coverage and concerns from the legal and regulatory bodies might force the company to address the issue from a systemic level. The computer crime situation raises questions on how to maximize the benefits to the stakeholders and minimize harm. This situation is not right and violates ethical principles (Schwartz, 2017). The issue should allow for a broader discussion to promote the generation of all potential outcomes yet being specific to allow for the selection of alternative courses of action.
The Alternatives
The company has many alternative options that it can use including continuing its operations with the compromised system, completely stopping all operations until a solution is obtained. The company might decide to use the manual system as it addresses the issue. It can also opt to use an alternative system and update its databases using the files saved in the cloud.
The Stakeholders
The key stakeholders who will be affected by the alternatives include the customers of the company, the employees, the stockholders, government, suppliers, the local community and the management. All the stakeholders are affected differently by the alternatives selected by the company. A complete shutdown, for example, can significantly affect all of them. The use of the manual system will affect the employees, suppliers, customers, and management. Using the alternative system also affects the company’s employees, customers, management, suppliers and stockholders (Whittier, Williams & Dewett, 2017).
ABC Company needs to rank the stakeholders claim according to the weight of each stakeholder. The customers and suppliers will be affected the most just like the employees who will not be able to deliver their mandate in the normal way. The management will be responsible for charting the future course of action for the company while the stockholders will be concerned about the decision taken by the management to safeguard its interest. The government will be concerned with rules and regulations and how to safeguard the interest of the other stakeholders.
Ethics of the Alternatives
The selection of the best alternatives was based on ethical principles where ethics of plausible alternatives are determined. Questions on the rights and justice and utilitarianism principles were considered to establish the rating of each alternative by the theories. The alternatives were, therefore, rates as a right or wrong or good or bad with the objective of selecting the best course faction. All ethical principles pointed to the use of the manual system for the time being until the system has been restored and is in operations. The utilitarian principle was used to determine stakeholders who will be affected the most. The alternative showed the more benefits to a greater number of stakeholder followed closely by the use of the alternative system. The rights of the different stakeholders were also considered. The two alternatives distribute the burden and benefits in a fair way (Schwartz, 2017). There were incidences when the theories pointed out to conflicting theories. It was, therefore, appropriate to select the recommendation that has the least effect on the normal operations of the company.
Practical Constraint
The best alternative can be put into effect as the employees are better knowledgeable on this issue having done it severally when the system is down. Ethical and practical constraints favored the same alternative and therefore no conflict was reported. The practical constraint, however, had more weigh on the manual system compared to an alternative system which could have been selected using ethical principles (Whittier, Williams & Dewett, 2017).
Actions to Take
The selected alternative is them implemented immediately by reverting to a manual system. The employees will conduct. The course of action is ideal for the company since it does not require any additional investment or further training. Similarly, employees are aware of their expectations and therefore a smooth transition was expected.
References
Hassim, A., Kajewski, S., & Trigunarsyah, B. (2011). A conceptual framework for ethical decision making in project procurement. Modern Methods And Advances In Structural Engineering And Construction(ISEC-6) . doi: 10.3850/978-981-08-7920-4_s1-p17-cd
Schwartz, M. (2017). Business Ethics: An ethical decision-making approach foundations of business ethics . Wiley.
Whittier, N., Williams, S., & Dewett, T. (2017). Evaluating ethical decision‐making models: a review and application. Society And Business Review , 1 (3), 235-247. doi: 10.1108/17465680610706319
