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Preaching What We Practice: Teaching Ethical Decision-Making to Computer Security Professionals

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Financial Cryptography and Data Security (FC 2010)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNSC,volume 6054))

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Abstract

The biggest challenge facing computer security researchers and professionals is not learning how to make ethical decisions; rather it is learning how to recognize ethical decisions. All too often, technology development suffers from what Langdon Winner terms technological somnambulism – we sleepwalk through our technology design, following past precedents without a second thought, and fail to consider the perspectives of other stakeholders [1]. Computer security research and practice involves a number of opportunities for ethical decisions. For example, decisions about whether or not to automatically provide security updates involve tradeoffs related to caring versus user autonomy. Decisions about online voting include tradeoffs between convenience and security. Finally, decisions about routinely screening e-mails for spam involve tradeoffs of efficiency and privacy. It is critical that these and other decisions facing computer security researchers and professionals are confronted head on as value-laden design decisions, and that computer security researchers and professionals consider the perspectives of various stakeholders in making these decisions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742-4345, USA

    Kenneth R. Fleischmann

Authors
  1. Kenneth R. Fleischmann
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science Department, Stony Brook University, 11794, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Radu Sion

  2. Department of Computer Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, 218 Central Ave, 07102, Newark, NJ, USA

    Reza Curtmola

  3. Computer Science Department, Castle Point on Hudson, Stevens Institute of Technology, 07030, Hoboken, NJ, USA

    Sven Dietrich

  4. Computer Science and Engineering, University of Connecticut,, 372 Fairfield Way, 06269, Storrs, CT, USA

    Aggelos Kiayias

  5. Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad de Lleida, Jaume II, 69, 25001, Lleida, Spain

    Josep M. Miret

  6. NEC Central Research Labs, 1753 Shimonumabe, Nakahara, 211-8666, Kawasaki, Japan

    Kazue Sako

  7. Departamento de Matemáticas, Dept. of Computer Engineering and Universidad de Lleida, Jaume II, 69, 25001, Lleida, Spain

    Francesc Sebé

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Fleischmann, K.R. (2010). Preaching What We Practice: Teaching Ethical Decision-Making to Computer Security Professionals. In: Sion, R., et al. Financial Cryptography and Data Security. FC 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6054. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14992-4_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14992-4_18

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-14991-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-14992-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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