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For your initial post, develop a scenario that presents an ethical dilemma in an information security setting. Take this opportunity to develop a scenario that will stimulate a discussion on different approaches to privacy and ethical problems. The scenario you create should be realistic but unique. It’s okay to think creatively!
Your scenario will be more engaging and meaningful if it is plausible. Focus on typical events rather than rare occurrences or unrealistic characters.
Provide enough background for participants to see how the situation and policies could influence outcomes.
Leave enough ambiguity for participants to interpret unknown factors that might influence their approach.
Provide a clear question or decision for participants to address.
Review the following example of an ethical dilemma scenario, but don’t use it as your initial post.
Your IT administrator assigns the members of your department to perform the company’s yearly ethical hacking audit. During last year’s exercise, one of the IT engineers went outside the scope of the ethical hacking contract and accessed HR files. This was deemed a deliberate violation of the plan, and the employee was fired. However, the vulnerability to access the records was included in the ethical hacking audit report. Knowing that this vulnerability existed last year, how would you proceed in this year’s audit?
In your response posts, address the ethical dilemmas posed by your peers. Apply what you have learned from this module’s resources on ethical standards to justify your response.
To complete this assignment, review the Discussion Rubric.
RESPONSE ONE
Scenario:
The ethical dilemma I’m presenting stems from a real-life incident involving the Nashoba Regional School District, where a breach of the PowerSchool student information system (SIS) exposed the Social Security numbers of 41 former students, 8 former staff, and 2 current staff on Friday January 17, at 8:54 am, email sent to me.
This situation raises critical questions about how organizations should respond to cybersecurity incidents, particularly in education or settings relying on third-party software systems.
Key Challenges in This Ethical Dilemma:

Transparency vs. Reputation: Should the district provide full disclosure of the breach details, risking reputational harm, or limit the information shared to avoid panic?

Resource Constraints: The district has limited staff and funding. Should they redirect resources from educational programs to upgrade cybersecurity systems, or rely on PowerSchool to mitigate the breach?

Incomplete Contact Information: Some affected individuals cannot be notified due to outdated records. What steps should the district take to fulfill its ethical and legal obligations in these cases?

Third-Party Responsibility: As a PowerSchool breach, how much responsibility falls on the district vs. the vendor?
This situation reflects broader, real-world challenges faced by organizations:

Data Breaches in Education: Educational institutions are often targets of cyberattacks due to insufficient security measures.

Balancing Priorities: Schools must juggle their obligation to protect sensitive data with the practical limitations of budgets and staffing.

Vendor Accountability: Reliance on third-party systems adds complexity to breach response and prevention.
Questions for Discussion:
How can organizations like Nashoba balance transparency with maintaining public trust?
Should resources be diverted from other programs to strengthen cybersecurity, even at the cost of education?
How far should the district go to notify affected individuals with incomplete contact information?
What role should third-party vendors like PowerSchool play in breach prevention and response?
Note *, Still more to follow!.
RESPONSE TWO
At Sinclair Bank, you work as a Security Information Analyst reviewing policies on handling sensitive data. While analyzing system usage to improve reliability, you downloaded raw data from the bank’s SQL database and prepared it in Excel for a presentation. However, the bank has strict rules requiring all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) to be stored only on internal servers, not on the third-party cloud system. By mistake, you saved the data to the cloud. The third-party vendor discovered this during an audit and reported it to the bank.
Now the bank faces an ethical and procedural dilemma. Should they inform affected customers and regulators about the breach or handle it internally to protect their reputation? What consequences should you face for unintentionally violating policy?
To prevent this in the future, the bank could enforce stricter controls, such as automated alerts or restrictions on where sensitive data can be saved. Better employee training and tools that help ensure compliance with data policies could also help avoid similar mistakes. This situation shows how important it is to balance accountability, ethics, and strong security practices.

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