Roshan Sah

Technology and its Legal, Social and Ethical Context

Computer and crime

A computer is an electronic programmable machine where the actual machinery is hardware and the instructions and data are software. In this era computer is used for different purposes depending on one’s needs and wants. With the increasing number of computer users’ crimes involved by the use of a computer and a network are increasing day by day. Using computers for illegal purposes like; committing fraud, trafficking intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating privacy, plotting a virus, hacking someone’s computer etc. are examples of cybercrime or computer crime. The very first recorded cybercrime is supposed to be recorded in 1820 where textile manufacturer in France named Joseph-Marie Jacquard, produced the device loom which allowed the repetition of the series of steps used in the weaving of special fabrics. Because of absence of proper rules and regulations in Nepal business organizations used electronic materials and computers for fraud. However, the exact date recorded for the first cybercrime couldn’t be found in Nepal till now.  With the technological advancement computer crimes are now increasing rapidly in many countries and are becoming very serious problems that are costing up to billions of dollars. The advancement on information technology and cyberspace has made this world as a small global village. People can get access of all information about the world from their home using internet. The trends of global terrorism have also changed because of IT. Cybercrime has become a new weapon for the potential threat in international peace and global security. As government and business entities use computer for their day to day operation criminals are getting easy access to the data and information via. cybercrime related activities. So, we can say without any doubt that cyber and computer crime will keep increasing as it is networked internationally, which makes computer criminals to get access of it easily.

The application of scientific knowledge for the fulfillment of practical aims of human beings and to make difference as well as manipulate the human environment is known as technology while the moral principles that regulate technology behaviors can be called technology ethics. Nepal is a developing country landlocked by the two largest countries China and India. Nepal is so much influenced by the progress and development brought out by the information technology. So, talking on the context of Nepal, information and technology is being used for the competitiveness, growth and the need of modern world as well to advance, expand and to sustain national economy. If technology ethics are followed by the citizens or by IT users, IT can play important role to increase productivity in public administration, communication, infrastructure, industry and agriculture of countries like Nepal. Technology ethics ensure effective, efficient and economic IT operation by implementing appropriate IT system. Technology has helped people to raise their living standards and to solve problem. Although, technology has brought positive as well as negative impact on day to day human life. There are some people who take advantage of technology for the purpose of committing crimes which has led to the cybercrime. So, to prevent cybercrimes cyber laws should be enforced and technology ethics should be implemented.

With the implementation of new delivery channel such as ATM, internet banking, mobile banking etc. by Banks and financial institutions there have been increased risk of financial loss and electronic fraud along with other banking risk. Cyber fraud can be done by both internal and external parties of an organization. So, in such scenarios, it is important to regulate and guide IT related activities in institutions to strengthen the organization for tackling with emergency cyber fraud, managing information technology prudently and migrating risk aroused from implementation of information technology. So, there is necessity of technology ethics in modern world. For the potential ethical implication for the future in such financial sectors, as well as other sectors where there is maximum use of information technology can be:

Promote sound and robust technology risk management system as well as strengthen system security in the organizational environment.

There should be a board approved information security policy.

They need to conduct Risk assessment periodically as well as an organization should take necessary measures to ensure that all of its employees, consultant and contractors are aware of information security policy.

Appropriate implementation of physical and environmental control should be taken into consideration of threat for example, geographical location, building configuration, neighboring entities etc.

Focus on security health and detect as well as fix vulnerabilities.

Configuration with highest level of security setting in operating system, firewall and system software.

Development and implementation of comprehensive computer virus protection mechanism.

Deployment of strong cryptography and end-to-end encryption to protect customers PIN, user password and other security sensitive data in networks and in storage.

• Maintaining confidentiality, integrity and availability.
• Evaluation of data risk.
• Application of additional controls if using wireless network.
• CCTV installation at ATM’s.
• Outsourcing management.

Replacement of magnetic stripe cards with chip-based cards.

If I were on a position to make change, I would apply following resolutions to mitigate ethical tensions in Banks and Financial institutions:

Update User Passwords time to time:

Before the beginning of new fiscal year, organizations should change the passwords on all office computers and electronic devices, that means everything that needs a parole. Renovating user passwords is an inconvenient job, but understanding the persistency of today’s hackers is an important task to do. The shorter the passwords, the easier to decode the password. Hackers mostly use different types of operations to access the data, so the data safety depends on how strong the passwords are. So, creating a password policy can help to manage the passwords of all employees which creates a culture of password security in an organization.

Updating All the Software to Their Latest Version

Newer technology is always better. Since an updated device or computer is equipped with the latest security patches it is always harder to crack. Office software used in day to day transaction needs to be regularly updated by the IT department/ by the employees themselves if possible. Software updates provide more security & improve the performance of computers, allowing them to run faster and handle multiple applications in a breeze.

Educating Employees on how to deal with Online Attacks

Every staff of an organization should have knowledge about potential threats that are lurking online and the safety measure to protect their devices as well as ways of sorting out phishing e-mails, practicing proper password management, deterring hackers etc. At least once a year, there should be scheduled an online security seminar for employees to keep them up to speed with the latest online threats and also making them understand the new security measures and encouraging employees to share any helpful tips they know can help to reduce ethical problems.

Substantive criminal law provisions are found to be covering the most common forms of computer crimes in huge no. of countries unlike the situation related to digital evidence. Very a smaller number of countries have addressed specific aspects of digital evidence and also international binding standards are lacking.  

The Electronic Transaction and Digital Signature Act 2004, also known as the cyber law, was passed in 2004. Before 2004, Public Offence Act used to regulate cybercrimes in Nepal and even though Nepal Police were not aware about the technical aspects of cybercrimes they used to deal with them. That means; the sanctions were not effective and relative to the crime committed by the guilty party.

Cyber world in Nepal is now regulated by Electronic Transaction Act (EAT) 2063 which acts as a shield for the users against cybercrimes like deleting data, hacking, software piracy, invite criminal and civil sanctioning to individuals and institutions, stealing e-documents and posting defamatory information etc. This law has tight rules and regulation but as there is lacking of proper monitoring and updates the cyber law is present but, not efficient. In the growing technological world EAT has been fixed constant. Internet provides easy access to the data and information but at the same time it threats privacy related issues. Nepal is facing massive hindrance, threats and challenges because of nation lacking good governance, proper mechanism and measures to cater that need at time of emergency and proper policies based on research works. Due to the rapid growth in technological world with the emerging new global commerce in ideas, information and services cyber law has become essential part of day to day operation. Information Technologies (IT) has changed most of the human activities like trade, education, entertainment, communication, culture and knowledge and as a result, there is increasing need to develop and modernize the law to utilize technological improvements and to guarantee that the government can respond to computer crime and crime related issues that come along with developments. The cyber law works under legal issues like freedom of expression, intellectual property, privacy and jurisdiction but due to the lacking of cyber forensic and investigation chances of catching the criminals has deemed. Cyber Law of Nepal has to overcome the challenges it has been facing till date to protect online communication from being turned into a serious crime.

Every aspect of our lives has changed due to technology and also impacts provided by technological changes are huge in modern community. One of the greatest business challenges is How to manage the process of cultural change. Now different countries are adopting different cultures and countries are digitally divided by access and availability. Email, skype, telephone or social medias are the major facets of todays’ global communication culture. But still understanding and respecting the differences is the key to successful communication in this era. Humans are social creatures, so human interactions cannot be replaced by any technologies. For the effective communication both the human and digital elements are to be used, that is body language is still the powerful key of communication.  Different possible technologies are dividing cultures. In another word we can say that Technology directly influence culture and vice versa. When culture changes the change innovates the technology and with the technological evolution cybercrimes also get increased increasing the risk in data management and privacy leaking issues. Change in technological culture can create massive bad impacts like, misrepresentation, stereotyping and the risk of loss of culture and intellectual property rights, unmonitored access, negative influence on social values, loss of group identity and individualism etc. It can also have positive impacts like it allows the spread of customs, language and the products, it allows people to be able to attain goods and services easily, makes easier to understand global community and their cultures etc. Technology has increased the opportunity for education, improved communication, allowed people to participate in a wider and worldwide society. So, we can conclude that the change in technological culture has improved human life in some expect but still it has many negative impacts. It has increased the risk of cybercrimes and not respecting each other’s values and norms.

                  Hence in conclusion we can say that, computer has made our life easier but along with the benefits we have to bear some negative impacts brought out by the technological changes. Enacting the proper rules and regulations for the computer related crimes can help in regulation of cyber ethics thus helping to build the better world for today and tomorrow. All people should give their best to maintain ethics and to flourish a great technological culture in a modern world.

Reference
Medium. (2020). Cyber Crime in context to Nepal. [online] Available at: https://blog.sitehawk.io/cyber-crime-in-context-to-nepal-e294a06fa710 [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].
Globalsign.com. (2020). 7 Cybersecurity Resolutions for 2017. [online] Available at: https://www.globalsign.com/en/blog/7-cybersecurity-resolutions-for-2017 [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].