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14                      TRENDS IN COMPUTING



                                                                       AND ETHICAL ISSUES















                        Learning Objectives



                   14.1  Trends in Computing                          14.2  Cyber Security
                   14.3  Netiquette                                   14.4  Intellectual Property



              Ethics are the standards and practices which deal with the moral ideologies of an individual. They refer to the
              decisions or actions made by the people in their real lives which affect any particular individual and/or society,
              in general.
              The word ‘ethics’ originates from the Greek word “ethos” which means “custom” or “character”. In other words, it
              determines a person’s character or behaviour that wavers between his passion and caution.

              Ethics play a significant role in the life of a person, beginning right from the childhood when parents and guardians
              teach various moral lessons which act as a guide in shaping the character of that person.

              In every field of life, ethics help in segregating the right from the wrong, the good from the bad, and so on. But unlike
              the law, ethics does not hold anything as legally and mandatorily right or wrong.
              Today, with increasing progress in social and commercial life, the word ethics has now slowly reared its head in the
              field of information technology as well. It has thus become very important to set moral standards that govern the use
              of computers. Different online activities like social networking, e-commerce, e-mail and so on involve quick transfer
              of data, information or even money. However, this has also led to an increase in unwanted online crimes like hacking,
              cyber bullying, identity fraud, credit card fraud, etc. All such crimes can be termed as ‘unethical’ crimes as these violate
              the code of ethics laid down by society. Hence, to use the services of information technology fruitfully, we must be very
              careful as well as aware of such unethical crimes associated with it. The users should also be familiar with different
              terms such as spam, cybercrime (such as hacking, piracy), etc. All this, thus, firmly establishes the need for applying
              the concept of “Ethos” or “Ethics”.


                   14.1 TRENDS IN COMPUTING
              The evolution of computers from the huge and bulky first-generation computers to modern day’s small and portable
              laptops, palmtops, and smartphones has been phenomenal. It does not stop here either. Research is still being
              done to make our lives easier with the further development of modern technology. Let us discuss some of these
              recent trends.





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