Recent news headlines are full of intriguing stories about real-life consequences to virtual actions at home and work. Our virtual world travels, combined with Web 2.0 interactions, are merging with real life behaviors at the office as never before. Security professionals had better take notice - now.
A Google search alert is worth more than a thousand words, so take a look at a few of these 75 recent articles that my Gmail alert sent me regarding the link between a virtual affair and a real-life divorce.
One of the articles, Second Life infidelity is no less real, said it this way: "The virtual world elides that distinction between fantasy and reality - these are fantasy objects with people attached."
My point to this blog has very little to do with adultery, and quite a bit to do with the realities of virtual behavior now showing up in offices and homes around the USA. I wrote an initial piece on this topic almost two years ago called: Can Cyber Ethics training work for adults? And yet, the topic has accelerated much faster than I anticipated. The mainstream media is reporting this story world-wide, while the technology magazines almost ignore the issue as nothing new, preferring to focus on the important but oversold mantra of "It's the data stupid."
Don't get me wrong. As an industry, we are doing a terrible job of protecting data, so I understand the back to basics theme. Nevertheless, reputations, careers, families, marriages - as well as personal and corporate privacy and security - are at stake with virtual behaviors at the office.
Want more evidence? It seems like some new senior exec is picked up each week similar to this story: Aide to Boxer Fired After Being Caught in Child Pornography Sting. Yes, these types of headlines impact the reputation and effectiveness of your company or business. Most stories never make the papers, but our employees are impacted in numerous ways.
What can be done? This may sound like a broken record from me, but we need to repackage cyber ethics with new labels. I describe the term "integrity theft" in my book, but regardless of your position, we need to get the best and brightest working together to rethink cyber ethics for adults at home and work.
What are your thoughts on this topic?
So you post an item about cyberethics and virtual affairs, but then you have a sexy blond with significant cleavage showing pushing Fortify products as a side bar on the same page? What does she have to do with good security/
All going to prove that sex sells, and since we can't even get security companies, who should know better, to advertise ethically, we need to rely on the moral standards of our employees. So teach me how to identify moral people in the interview process and how to protect and support all employees to live their lives with integrity!
Thanks for your comment regarding related content (and the sexy blond ad) next to my blog. I couldn't agree with you more, but I don't control the ads that are run by CSO Magazine. You have given a great example of how advertisers "tempt the click" with both sexy women and other techniques.
As a matter of fact, your second paragraph hits exactly at one of the major themes in my book. The "Seven Habits of Online Integrity" in chapters 7&8 of the book focus on end users and how to live their lives with integrity in cyberspace - as you suggest.
I'd love to hear your comments/reactions after reading Virtual Integrity.
Dan,
Couldn't agree more. I'm reading the book right now and you make some very powerful points that people need to hear. This isn't just a problem for companies or organizations today, it's a generational issue that will have a tremendous impact on society in the future. Twenty years ago when people talked about the dark places in our personal lives it was one thing but the Internet has opened the box to things that otherwise regular people seem to have a hard time avoiding. It's a magnet that attracts and consolidates badness that simply wasn't available a few short years ago. I worry about young people being exposed to things they shouldn't even know about. Does that make me a Luddite...maybe. Read the book, it's worthwhile.
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