Management and the Technology Professional – B302

Case study answer 1

As the lead developer at First4Internet Ltd I would probably be a member of the British Computer Society (BCS). Members of the BCS are governed and guided by the BCS code of conduct. This code describes the principals of having regard for public interest and that within your professional field you have knowledge and understanding of relevant legislation, regulations and standards, and that you comply with such requirements.

The Computer Misuse Act (1990) is one of the many relevant pieces of legislation described by the code of conduct. Section three of this act states that a person is guilty of an offence if he does any act which causes an unauthorised modification of the contents of any computer and at the time when he does the act he has the requisite intent and the requisite knowledge.

In my opinion the developers at First4Internet Ltd broke their code of conduct by developing software that did not have due regard for public interest and for the best interests of the user. I believe that the software did not meet these criteria because it cloaked its operation from the user, it did not behave as the user believed it would and it left the user vulnerable to viruses and malicious attacks.

Furthermore I believe that the developers contravened the computer misuse act by the actions described above and because the software modified the behaviour of the computer without the user’s permission. This is illustrated by the damage caused to the system when trying to remove the software. In many cases trying to remove the software damaged the system’s operation and in many cases stopped the CD drive from functioning.

The argument could be made that developing anti-piracy software is in the best interests of the general public, as that is who it is meant to protect. In this case however, the people most hurt by the actions of the developers are the people who legally purchased the CD rather than those who illegally download the copyrighted material off the internet.

In conclusion, the most compelling reason that I would have had for not developing the rootkit software would have been that by doing so I would have been breaking my code of conduct as a BCS member and section three of the computer misuse act (1990).