Hot Spot for Hackers

Question: Discuss about the Article for Hot Spot for Hackers. Answer: In Australia, the public Wi-Fi hotspots have almost no security as stated by Dr Malcolm Pattinson who is a cyber security expert of University of Adelaide. He also stated that the encryption is so weak that anyone can break into some of these Wi-Fi hot spots and can hack any information. This scenario can be analyzed further by using two classical theories of ethics that are Consequentialism or Utilitarianism and Egoist theory. Utilitarianism is a theory that depends on principles of Utility and states that act of a person will be considered as morally right only when it will produce more happiness than any other act that the person could perform at that time (Wright et al., 2013). Classical utilitarian such as Stuart Mill and Henry Sidgwick has defined that within this ethical theory happiness is considered as pleasure where pain does not exist. On the other hand, Egoist theory of ethics is divided in two variations that are individual and universal. Individual ethical theory stated that a person who follows this theory can do whatever good for them even if it violates the rights of others. Universal egoist theory on the other hand, promotes selfishness for each people only by respecting the rights of the others. The case scenario of Australia where citizen are facing several issues while using public Wi-Fi can be related to egoist theory of Ethics. According to the case study, more than $15.7 million was lost to frauds in the first two weeks of the month. As per the reports of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, one out of 10 frauds is done through internet (Burgess, 2013). Now all of these frauds can be considered as an act of egoism. Particularly, it can be said that individualism egoistic theory suits the current situation as someone is hacking the bank accounts of citizen only for his good where the holders of the accounts are facing issues. However, according to Dion (2012), in some of the cases this weak security system of Wi-Fi hotspot can help the Government or other departments to peak into the accounts of suspects. This act is also considered as an act under egoistic ethics. However, this act can be stated as an act of universal. If investigation organizations such as C IA can secretly hack into someones bank account to figure out the banking detail of that person in order to find out his financial transactions, this will help the investigation organization to collect evidences against some criminals. This could be considered as act of selfishness as that investigating department will collect evidences for their own good; however, it will help a large number of people (Rosas Koenigs, 2014). Therefore, this act is an act of universal egoistic ethics. However, in this case it is highly essential to take proper steps to stop the hacking incidents In order to stop the hacking incidents act of Utilitarianism must be applied which will allow take steps that will provide help to the people without causing any damage to other citizens (Lucas Galinsky, 2015). Some recommended methods of protecting the data while Wi Fi Hotspot are mentioned below, Using VPN: VPN is virtual private network which adds a layer of defence to all the information one sends. VPN actually encrypt all the information which make it tough for the hackers t hack it. Using SSL connection: Users must use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) at the time of entering any sensitive data in the website. This ensures that all the information is encrypted when it passes over onto the web. For example, websites that starts with http are secured with SSL. Users are recommended that they must not use any website that does not start with http. This might reveal all their information to a third person. Adding an effective Firewall: Users are recommended to protect their devices with a strong, personal firewall. They are also recommended that the firewall must be up-to-date with the best virus protection. It will make sure that no one will get their hands on the sensitive data of the user. Switch off Wi-Fi: When a user is not actively using Wi-Fi, the device still transmit data continuously between any network that is located within the range. Therefore, it is recommended that all the users must switch off their Wi-Fi connectivity when they are not using it. Integrated web filtering services: Internet is full of illegal, malicious and hacking sites. Even when a user is not surfing any of those sites, he can unknowingly enter any hacking sites through spam links and pop ups (Maggi et al., 2013). Therefore, it is important that the Wi-Fi service provider must use integrated web filtering services that will help to block those sites in the network. In this way, a user will be protected from fraud links that might force him to enter details such as credit card passwords in hacking sites. Web browser based on filtering services: Most of the times web service providers do not use integrated web filtering services to reduce the operational costs (Virvilis et al., 2015). In this situation, to make sure that the device is protected from hacking, users must use web browsers based on web filtering services. All of these above mentioned procedures are the act of Utilitarianism as it will do well for the users while creating no harm for any other people. From the discussion, it is clear that the jacking incident that is taking place in Australia is serious. People are losing their money rapidly. The public Wi-Fi hotspot is so vulnerable that even a cheap receiver is enough to break into some of the Wi-Fi hotspots. This act was compared with the egoism act of classical ethics theory (Garca et al., 2013). However, it is necessary to find out proper ways to come out o these issues. Some recommendations are mentioned that can help a user to protect his device from any type of hackings and tracking. These processes will be considered as act of Utilitarianism as it will help to keep interest of the users while doing no harm to any other people. Reference List Burgess-Jackson, K. (2013). Taking egoism seriously.Ethical theory and moral practice,16(3), 529-542. Dion, M. (2012). Are ethical theories relevant for ethical leadership?.Leadership Organization Development Journal,33(1), 4-24. Garca, J. M., Junghans, M., Ruiz, D., Agarwal, S., Ruiz-Corts, A. (2013). Integrating semantic web services ranking mechanisms using a common preference model.Knowledge-Based Systems,49, 22-36. 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