Cyber Ethics and Prevention of Technology Crimes

Main Content

Be a responsible, law-abiding netizen and don’t fall prey to technology crimes.

Are You Using the Internet Responsibly?

Some people may have a lower standard of ethics in cyberspace as they thought there is no law governing the virtual world and their anonymity will save them from being detected. In fact, these are all misconceptions. The law also governs the Internet and you may attract legal liabilities if you perform the following activities:

posting obscene and indecent content on the Internet;
obtaining property or services online by deception;
spreading viruses or malicious codes;
gaining unauthorised access to computers, etc.

Therefore, you should learn to be a responsible netizen so that you won’t commit any technology crimes unknowingly or cause harm to others.

Do not store, send or disseminate any content which is likely to be offensive or obscene to a reasonable person.
Do not access any data, systems or networks without authority or permission.
Do not spread computer viruses or malicious codes, or conduct any hacking activities on other computers.
Respect all other Internet users. Do not threaten, harass, stalk or abuse anyone.

Misunderstandings of Internet usage (available in Chinese only)http://www.be-netwise.hk/tips2.php
More tips on how to be a responsible netizenhttp://www.infosec.gov.hk/english/yourself/acceptable.html
Be NetWise Talk for youngsters (available in Chinese only)http://www.be-netwise.hk/talk.php

Tools for Teaching Cyber Ethics

For parents and teachers, you can make use of the following resources to educate children about cyber ethics.

Be NetWise Parents’ Handbook (pdf file)http://www.be-netwise.hk/download/parent_edu_kit_eng.pdf
Young People, Music & The Internet – A Guide for Parents (pdf file) (available in Chinese only)http://www.ipd.gov.hk/chi/pub_press/publications/parental_guide_webedt.pdf
Illegal File-sharing: The Risks Aren't Worth It (pdf file)http://www.ifact-gc.org/media/Illegal_file_share.pdf
Internet education resource kit (available in Chinese only)http://www.be-netwise.hk/edu_kit.php

Beware of Technology Crimes

Nowadays criminals routinely and actively exploit our reliance on modern technology to commit technology crimes, such as botnets, website defacement, Internet fraud, online theft, etc. As a smart netizen, you should remain vigilant and avoid falling prey to these traps.

To protect yourself, you should:

properly configure your virus scanning software and keep virus signature files up-to-date;
secure your wireless network;
protect your information with strong passwords;
not use software from unknown sources;
not download files or software from the Internet indiscriminately;
not disclose your personal data like your name, email address and passwords;
apply the latest security patches or hot-fixes from product vendors to your operating system or the applications installed in your computer.