The Formation of Information Security Practitioner Ethics

With the provision and consumption of services increasingly driven by software, the execution and effects of behavior occur at machine speed, the actions of a small number of people potentially impacting on many in terms of loss of privacy, cost, and in some cases even physical harm. Practitioners of information security are trained to knowledgeably employ information technologies for the manipulation of information and services. However, this same skill set poses a potential threat to many others leaving the ends to categorize the means. With the burgeoning dependence of society on information technologies, the antecedents of ethical behavior in practitioners of information security justify a corresponding increase in relevance to study. The effect of the modern, relatively earlier introduction of information technologies into life experience on the nascent development of the information technology ethical ‘compass’ of individuals on their path to professional work can only amplify the case for analysis.