ICT has definitely caused a big impact in our current society. As every impact, it can be positive, negative, or both depending on what your perspective is. However, there are ethics that involve certain specific definitions which I will quote here under and should be always taken into account. Software Copyright. When a software is being 'copyrighted' it means that it is protected by one or various laws. These may state (a) Its illegal to make a copy of a certain software and then give it away to another person/friend; (b) Software may not be used in a network or on multiple computers without a license to do so; and (c) Code may not be extracted from the software in order to create one of your own, to later be sold. .
Virus.
A virus is a program or programming code that replicates itself in order to cause damage to a computer system. It usually attaches itself to files and may cause the computer to crash, or corrupt the files stored in it. Virus get into computers through email attachments or internet downloads. However, there are many options available to protect systems or networks, for example, anti-virus software, not downloading files from unknown websites, and firewalls (for networks). .
Hacking.
Act of gaining access to a computer system or network without the authorization to do so. Hackers may do it because they find it challenging, or just to cause harm. Once access to a system has been achieved,harmful software may be installed, files deleted, or more can occur. Hacking is not 100% preventable, but some measures can be taken by large companies, or workplaces to minimize the risk of an attack, for example, use of firewalls – to control incoming and outgoing traffic - and robust passwords and user Ids – to make access to computer or files harder. The above mentioned definitions are the foundation of ICT best practices, and we could say, the technical aspect of Information Technology.
