Ethics

Ethical decisions in a modern world

Ethics today are not nearly what they used to be. Today with the onset of a greed mentality coupled with a general decline in faith, ethics are not as prevalent as they were in bygone days. Sometimes, it is necessary to take a stand and meet out punishment to those that do not follow ethics. This paper will show the impact of ethics on a bad decision-making process.

In the modern day, passwords are very prevalent. They determine if a person is whom they say, to secure information and to keep things secret that should not be public knowledge. The use of passwords propels the internet and keeps users as individuals in a public arena. Sometimes though, passwords can be misused and it becomes an ethical situation.

The perpetrator for discussion in this case would be an employee at a financial firm. He was a friendly and trusted man within the company. He climbed the corporate ladder in leaps and bounds, making a beneficial impact on the company with every project he completed. Soon he found himself reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer of the company. As he was a trusted and well-liked employee, it was of no consequence that he handled the CEO's daily affairs when he was away on business or vacation.

During one of his many jaunts away from the office, the CEO explained that he was expecting an important email and entrusted this individual with his network password in secret before he left. Some days later, the email arrived and he set to his task to send out a series of reports to the SEC that showed the company's position, which was moderate to slightly profitable over the last fiscal year. This became the foundation for a string of irresponsible and nefarious deeds by our perpetrator, which soon after committed, brought the company to its knees in failure. Questions rang throughout the company's silent halls for some time after, but anyone in on the cause knew that the decision to trust the individual with such a high-level password was the initial mistake.

Ethically, handing your personal password to anyone is the biggest mistake you can make. It is similar to handing a brand new credit card in your name to a stranger and letting them sign the signature space on the back. It may be your credit card, which you pay for, but the stranger reaps the benefits. For a CEO to give such his password, even to a trusted individual, rather than just sticking it out until his return or using a telephone instead of email, borders on absurdity.

Our perpetrator used the CEO's password to access resources that only the CEO had rights. In doing so, he modified numbers on reports, making the company seem more profitable than it really was. It was these he sent off to the SEC as requested, but he then decided in a twisted way that he did not want anyone to see what