Brett J. L. Landry

A uniform code of ethics: business and IT professional ethics

Business and IT professionals have enough in common that they can share a universal code of ethics.

A Decision Table for the Cloud Computing Decision in Small Business

An issue facing the manager of a small business is the use of cloud computing to meet the information technology IT needs of the firm. These businesses typically have limited in-house IT capabilities and often outsource much of their IT. This paper discusses this rapidly evolving technology and provides a framework for businesses to decide on harnessing the power of cloud computing. It recommends the appropriate decision based on the way in which IT is currently used in the enterprise and future needs to meet competitive challenges. The potential cost savings, technology insurance from cloud computing, and security risks are discussed and factored into the decision.

Dispelling 10 common disaster recovery myths: Lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and other disasters

Disasters happen all the time; yet despite this, many organizations are caught unprepared or make unrealistic assumptions. These factors create environments that will fail during a disaster. Most information technology (IT) curricula do not cover disaster recovery (DR) plans and strategies in depth. The unfortunate result is that most new computer systems are implemented without sufficient disaster recovery plans and testing. Courses on network security need to examine DR as a real threat and cover it as a core module. By dispelling the 10 common myths, organizations can better plan, develop, and test true DR plans.

Emerging Technologies in Healthcare: Navigating Risks, Evaluating Rewards

EXECUTIVESUMMARY The purpose of this prescriptive research is to help decision makers become better informed about three technologies emerging in the healthcare arena by providing a basic description of the technology and describing their current applications, future healthcare deployment, potential risks, and related managerial issues. Two of the technologies, radio frequency identification (RFID) and global positioning systems (GPS), are currently available to healthcare organizations and appear capable of decreasing cost but may require significant initial investment and have disruptive potential. The third technology, nanotechnology, has limited current use but may revolutionize both the delivery of medicine and hospital infrastructure management. With cautious attention to managerial issues and meticulous attention to implementation details, healthcare organizations that can successfully navigate the coming technologically driven paradigm shifts will emerge more resilient organizations.

P2P file sharing and the law: a brief survey of legislation and jurisprudence

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) applications are easy to use and pervasive at a variety of institutions, both public and private, business, governmental and academic. They cause major problems with the networks upon which they are applied: viruses, worms, spyware and adware can cause crippling congestion of the network resources. Additionally, P2P file sharing applications typically violate the copyright law, as well as create legal liability through the concepts found in tort law. This paper will present very basic definitions of P2P technology, a review of the pervasiveness of the use of IP2PFS and a brief survey of legal measures designed to prevent illegal usage.

Using the Private-Internet-Enterprise (PIE) Model to Examine IT Risks and Threats Due to Porous Perimeters

ABSTRACT There is a common misconception that internal IP networks (intranets) are secure and that only external networks such as the Internet and extranets are vulnerable and unsecured. The truth is that information on a network is not secure. With increases in network connectivity, the potential of bridging multiple networks on a single device, shared knowledge bases, and Web 2.0 integration of legacy applications, the problems are compounded. Traditional reliance on perimeter devices and security has proven to be ineffective in securing information in todays highly connected environments. This lack of security on increasingly powerful handheld devices, which tap into our information assets, will lead inevitably to increased exposure for our enterprise networks. The very nature of devices being networked makes them vulnerable on an IP network to various attacks and spoofs. This paper proposes a new model to identify and examine threats to information assets from private, Internet, and enterprise sources.

Data mining: an ethical baseline for online privacy policies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to advocate for and provide guidance for the development of a code of ethical conduct surrounding online privacy policies, including those concerning data mining. The hope is that this research generates thoughtful discussion on the issue of how to make data mining more effective for the business stakeholder while at the same time making it a process done in an ethical way that remains effective for the consumer. The recognition of the privacy rights of data mining subjects is paramount within this discussion. Design/methodology/approach – The authors derive foundational principles for ethical data mining. First, philosophical literature on moral principles is used as the theoretical foundation. Then, using existing frameworks, including legislation and regulations from a range of jurisdictions, a compilation of foundational principles was derived. This compilation was then evaluated and honed through the integration of stakeholder perspective and the assimilation of...