What Is Cyber Ethics and Basic Cyber Ethics To Adhere To

Cyber peace is an overused terminology in today’s world which means "All is well" in cyberspace. We all know the brutal truth and hence this is a small attempt to bring to your notice some ethical practices which you as an individual or an institute can adhere to make peace with the cyber world. Before we start, let’s get some basic definitions right.

What is Cyber Ethics?Ethics is a set of principles that controls the actions of a group of people or an individual. Hence, cyber ethics is a set of moral rules that govern the use of computers. They regulate the use of a computer or the internet, understand and follow what computers are programmed to do, and how these above parameters affect individuals and society. In simple words, it’s the recommended rules and regulations to maintain a healthy cyber environment.

Why Do We Need Cyber Ethics?When individuals and institutions do not follow cyber ethical practices, gives birth to something known as Cybercrime. Cybercrime is defined as a felony in which a computer is the object of the crime or is used as a medium to make an offense. Cybercrimes are of various forms, 2 heard of very often are hacking and spamming. To avoid such malpractices in the cyber world we need to adhere to some basic cyber ethical rules.

Top 4 Cyber Ethics One Must Adhere To:

Intellectual Property Right:The ever-evolving internet speed and file compression technology is the biggest cybercrime encourager. Due to these enhanced technologies, one very common cybercrime which is often spoken about is Intellectual Property Right. Copyright is the legal right granted to an author/ the maker of his products. Here a person with the medium of the computer uses someone else’s property, which could be in any form electronically i.e. image, text, audio, video, etc and users it for personal or professional promotions.

Password Privacy:Do you know, the number of cyber fraud cases in the banking industry in 2016–17 was 1,372 which accounted for? 42.3 crores? Why do you think this happens? Yes obviously you may sometimes not be at any fault, the computer hacker is very skilled. But do you realize small errors/mistakes we make unknowingly which promotes cybercrime?Let us look at some basic Password Privacy rules we as individuals must follow to stay away from the hackers.a. Change your password after ever 90 days i.e. 3 months.b. Do not share your password verbally or electronically with anyone.c. Do not write down your passwords anywhere. Not even in a book and not even on the laptop.d. Do not keep the same passwords for banking and social media profiles.e. Do not give the slightest hint of your password combination in public.f. If you doubt your password being compromised, change it immediately.

Be Netiquette:Let us break this up. What is etiquette? Etiquette is the set of conventional rules. Netiquette is the set of rules one must keep in mind while availing of the internet facility. Formally, Netiquette refers to "the rules of etiquette that apply when communicating over computer networks, especially the Internet." It is also referred to as a set of social conventions that facilitate interaction over social networking platforms.

Let us look at some basic online etiquette rules one must adhere to:a. Do not forget that the person reading your conversation or email is a human with feelings. Your words can hurt him.her.b. Know where you are in cyberspace.c. Respect other people’s time and bandwidth.d. Make yourself look good online. We do not mean have filtered and flashy online DP’s. We mean people on the internet are watching you and hence you must present your self well.e. Share expert knowledge if you possess it.f. Respect other people’s privacy.g. Don’t abuse your power.

Use the internet responsibly:Some people are fearless in cyberspace as they think there is no law governing their actions. In fact, these are all misconceptions. The law governs the Internet and you may face legal action if you are caught performing these actions online:a. If you are found posting obscene and indecent content on the Internet.b. If you are caught obtaining property or services online by fraud/illegal means.c. If you are found spreading viruses or malicious codes.d. If you are caught gaining unauthorized access to computers, etc.

Therefore, from this article, we learn that we must be responsible netizens so that we can be far away from any technology crime which can cause serious harm. Following these cyber ethical practices will lead us to a peaceful cyber environment. Your IT or Digital Marketing Agency must attempt to maintain strict cyber ethics.

Carlshen firoze wadia, digital marketing service provider and consultant and a blogger.