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Digital Harassment 1.2
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30-Dec-2008
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Yet another installment of Digital Harassment...
Cyber Stalking
Cyber Stalking is perhaps one of the most perverted and pervasive forms of Digital Harassment. Although one would not expect to find it so prevalent in the work place, it can take many forms, by many people.
I sincerely cannot recall the article, but I recently read something to the extent of 50% (yes, that's half...) of IT professionals interviewed admitted to accessing coworkers/employees E-mail and other private files. I have to pause for a moment to let the gravity set in...
...there we go. Just as a note, practically every organization on the face of the planet, or orbiting ever so slightly above, has some form of IT department – even if it is an outsourced one. If the statistic holds true, that means HALF of the planet has people spying on them. Forget big brother, watch out for socially illiterate glasses guy furiously typing away at his mobile phone that has more computing power than your entire family.
This isn't the kind of guy who can mug you on the street and steal your wallet; this is the kind of...quasi-humanoid that can steal your bank accounts, credit cards, life insurance and retirement. I'm willing to venture that the latter is of somewhat more significance. And yes, he can do it.
Obviously I am not advocating that IT professionals are untrustworthy or unreliable, but at the same time, we give them information that easily meets or exceeds the confidentiality afforded to the lawyer, doctor and priest...all the while they are not nearly so bound by the ethical and legal impediments against abusing this great power. Furthermore, lawyers, doctors and priests all require extensive grooming, about a decade of higher education, and have at least some form of oversight. Half the IT people in your life probably have a combined age of 27, and maturity levels weighted accordingly.
Even so, though hopefully most of the Cyber Stalking that goes on is purely in jest or for a laugh, or purely for idle curiosity (though none of these by any means constitute justification), there is always the more malevolent side. Those who use and abuse their power for whatever purpose suits their need. And who is watching the watchers?
You could say I'm arguing for some kind of government oversight. Being an IT professional, I personally think most of the modern problems related to identity theft, viruses, fraud, et cetera, would almost be completely taken care of if the IT industry had some official oversight. Every attempt by the government tends to take the approach of putting someone who can't check their own E-mail, has it printed out for them to read, has their secretary type up a letter to mail as a response, and sits at a meeting with IT professionals while casually trying to feign interest and stay awake. And I have been at those meetings (and, ohhh, do I wish I were the one trying to fall asleep...they're usually paid a lot better). Instead of a genuine attempt at oversight, it's more of a casual nod from the head, saying “...you're all behaving, right?” With, of course, no means to verify this. “Yup!”
I would be in error to bring up the downside of Cyber Stalking, and completely ignore the genuine 'big brother' benefits, particularly in the work place. Some times businesses genuinely have to know what's going on with a certain file or user account or whether or not an E-mail was sent or received. Cyber Stalking can in fact save your reputation in the he-said/she-said of what work was or wasn't done, and of what quality and who modified it. There are a plethora of advantages to having all the monitoring and forensic techniques at our disposal. The problem, as always, is finding the balance. As is, we're not even looking. |
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