18 Nov Cybersecurity-cybercrime ethical issues

IMPORTANT NOTE: This assignment is a requirement for the course as per

course accreditation guidelines. Failure to submit this assignment (see Course

schedule) is an automatic F grade for the course.

Objective: Individually, produce a research paper addressing a specific computer

related ethical issue(s) relevant to our class. Research paper should complement

and expand what was learned in class and not be a simple repetition of previously

discussed issues.

Topic Selection:

• Make note of your assigned team number in Canvas and find the group’s

designated general topic in the Appendix section below (for example, if you

are in Team 9, then your general group topic would be “Nationality bias

ethical issues in IT/Cyberspace”).

• Within the general topic assign to your group, research and select a specific

ethical issue/case/position you want to address as the sub-issue of your

paper (for example, If you are on Team 24, your group’s general topic would

be: “Cybersecurity-cybercrime ethical issues” and a possible example of a

specific related sub-issue you could use as your individual research paper’s

topic could be “The negative ethical implications of Cyberattacks in future

electronic voting systems”).

o Your specific sub-issue/case should be unique within your

group. Therefore, all individual topics must be discussed within

the group in order to avoid duplicates.

§ If two students address the same exact subissue/case in their papers, both may receive a zero

(0) and fail the course.

§ Make sure your sub-topic (and paper) focuses on a

specific ethical issue associated with your group’s

general topic. Addressing the ethical issue(s) selected

must be the most important aspect of your paper.

Instructions and Requirements:

1. Your paper content (from introduction to conclusions, including both

sections, but excluding cover page, citations, any tables or figures, and

appendix) must have a length of 1500 words minimum (but do not exceed

2000 words).

o Papers below the minimum word count requirement, vague,

or/and obviously wordy without substance will receive a low-failing

grade.

2. Your paper must use APA style rules.

3. Your paper must be submitted in a Microsoft Word file.

4. Your paper must contain the following sections following APA rules:

1. A cover page, showing your name, assignment title, and class

details.

2. A keywords page, showing only 5 to 8 keywords associated with

your paper. Each word must be separated by a comma and

include the ethical issues addressed by your paper.

3. An introduction, establishing a personal standpoint or thesis on a

specific ethical issue. This point is a crucial requirement for the

success of your paper. Papers that do not include a clear thesis

may receive a failing grade.

4. A body, discussing your thesis and presenting several supporting

and opposing arguments.

1. The body must be the most voluminous section of your

paper. It must discuss your thesis and develop its

supporting/opposing (well referenced) arguments. It

must focus on the specific ethical issue(s) you

selected in your thesis without deviating from the

topic. It must NOT include long historical backgrounds

or excessive literal citations fillers (papers that ignore

these instructions may receive a significantly lower

grade).

5. A conclusion, summarizing which point of view you feel is

the strongest and why. In addition, discuss present and future

global implications on your conclusions.

6. An appendix section containing a short quiz with 3 short

multiple-choice questions related to the specific ethical

issue(s) addressed in your paper. These questions must be

designed to address, in a generic way, the issues you

mentioned in the paper and test the readers’ understanding of

the topic(s).

1. Each question must have 4 possible options marked as

A, B, C, and D.

2. After listing each question and possible answer options,

you must indicate which option(s) is correct or most

suitable and why.

3. If a question does not have a definitive correct answer,

there must be a possible option within the answer

choices that reflects that, or in other words, only one of

the options must be the correct answer (e.g. “none of

the above”, “all of the above”, etc.)

4. Papers missing this appendix section will receive a 10%

grade penalty.

7. A references section citing each source using APA style.

Additional Notes:

1. Assignments that contain any of the following issues will not be graded

and will receive zero (0) points:

o Missing all references.

o Inappropriate language/tone (e.g. profanity, violence incitement,

etc.).

o APA standards not followed.

o Submitting a highly plagiarized paper (as determined by Turnitin

scoring >= 20).

o Papers using the same sub-issue topic.

2. Originality and research is crucial for this assignment (no example papers will

be provided).

Helping Tools & Resources You Should Use:

• The Center for Excellence in Writing (Links to an external site.) offers

individual consultations and workshops for any writing you are working on

throughout your time at FIU. It would be wise to make an appointment early

with them to review your paper’s draft before submitting it.

• Microsoft Word offers a great template to quickly create APA 6th

Edition papers. Instructions on how to get and use this template can be

found HERE (Links to an external site.).

• You should review your paper using the Turnitin Similarity Report to

avoid getting too close (or exceeding) the allowed 20% threshold.

Instructions on how to do this can be found HERE (Links to an external

site.).

• The FIU Library (Links to an external site.) should be used to find and

obtain any relevant references including textbooks, articles, and research

papers.

• Use Microsoft Word’s “word count” feature (Links to an external site.) to

make sure your document meets the length expectations.

• If you have any doubts, please contact me well in advance of the

assignment’s due date with your questions.

o Claiming “not to know” or “not understanding” these instructions

after the assignment is graded is not an acceptable excuse for not

meeting the assignment’s requirements. Again, if in doubt, please

contact me before submitting your paper so I can clarify any of

your questions.

Additional Resources:

• The American Phycological Association (APA) (Links to an external

site.) offers a great website to guide you on the details of how to write

papers following APA.