Computer Ethics

Computer Ethics

Talk about breaking a few Commandments Of Computer Ethics

1. Thou Shalt Not Use A Computer To Harm Other People.

2. Thou Shalt Not Interfere With Other People's Computer Work.

5. Thou Shalt Not Use A Computer To Bear False Witness.

7. Thou Shalt Not Use Other People's Computer Resources Without Authorization Or Proper Compensation.

10. Thou Shalt Always Use A Computer In Ways That Ensure Consideration And Respect For Your Fellow Humans.

Here is a news article about a teenager who actually used his personal computer to break into Orange County, California's 911 systems. The hacker convinced the dispatcher that he murdered someone and the SWAT team was dispatched to include helicopters to a house that contained a family. When the homeowner heard something outside he went to investigate, he thought it may have been a prowler. The homeowner grabbed a knife a went outside to find a SWAT team pointing their weapons at him.

Couple swarmed by SWAT team after 911 'hack'

A Washington State teenager faces 18 years in prison on charges that he used his PC to illegally access a 911 emergency response system.

Robert McMillan

PC World

Thursday, October 18, 2007; 12:19 AM

A Washington State teenager is facing 18 years in prison on charges that he used his PC to access Orange County, California's 911 emergency response system and convinced the sheriff's department into storming an area couple's home with a heavily armed SWAT team.

Randall Ellis, 19, of Mulkiteo, Washington is not only facing charges of unauthorized computer access, but he's also facing assault charges by proxy, meaning that authorities want Ellis to be convicted as if he, and not the SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) team, pointed weapons at the victims.

The incident took place late in the evening of March 29, when Ellis allegedly used his computer to call the Orange County 911 dispatch and, during the course of a 38-minute telephone conversation, convinced dispatchers that he had murdered someone on the premises and was about to do it again.

Within minutes, fire, police and a helicopter team had been dispatched to the home of the Lake Forest, California couple, whom authorities declined to identify.

"They surrounded the home, inside were a husband and wife and their two toddlers," said Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman with the Orange County District Attorney's office. "The husband heard rustling outside of his home and believed it to be a prowler. he took a knife and went into the backyard. Instead of finding a prowler he found a SWAT team pointing assault rifles at him."

"It really easily could have escalated into an innocent person being killed," she added. "We're lucky that they didn't shoot him."

Emami characterized Ellis as a "computer hacker," but declined to explain exactly how the attack was carried