How men and women view ethics

business today and the benefits are numerous. But, there is also a downside to the easy data access that IS provides. There are opportunities for invasion of privacy, as well as theft of data, money, and intellectual property (such as software and product designs). Harm can also be done by altering data or modifying software. Studies have cited the monetary loss to businesses as a result of the misuse of computers and computer fraud amounts to billions of dollars per year. A recent article in Fortune magazine reported how easily the security of a business information system was breached. The article noted that many companies do not report such problems to avoid harmful publicity. Information Week surveyed security managers and IS chiefs and found that nearly half of the 1,300 respondents suffered security-related losses. Most of the research in IS ethics has concentrated on premeditated computer misuse and fraud and what preventive measures might be effective. However, the results discussed here explore situations where an employee’s behavior is not blatantly criminal. Not everyone sets out to commit a computer crime or to do harm, but the extensive systems and computer networks available today sometimes put people in situations where they must Jennifer Kreie and Timothy Paul Cronan