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There is an acknowledged global shortage in qualified and skilled cyber security practitioners, so much so that governments, employers and educational establishments are developing new routes and opportunities to encourage interest and applications from demographics that would not normally apply for cyber security roles. These demographics include women, young children and people on the autistic spectrum. The potential employment of people from this last demographic — people on the Autistic Spectrum — in cyber security roles will be the focus of this research. Two areas are of interest, the ethical considerations in employing people on the Autistic Spectrum and the identification of a strategy to support the employee and employer relationship. Both are discussed here. In Europe the shortfall is expected to be in the region of 350,000 employees by the year 2020 and in the United States the number is expected to be 1.2 million by the same date. This research looks at how specific autistic traits and strengths can be matched to cyber security vacancies and discusses ethical considerations and a potential support process. A qualitative research methodology was used to identify suitable traits and potential cyber security vacancies. Ethical principles and a proposed support process are put forward to allow potential employers and autistic employees to engage in equitable employment opportunities. The autistic demographic does indeed offer skilled and capable resources to help fill cyber security vacancies; however, work is needed to allow both sides to benefit from the opportunities.

The study of ethics in cyber security often raises more questions than it answers. A student may ask the question, “Why should I study ethics in cyber security?” As research becomes specialized and technical skill sets appreciate in value, ethical questions become more important to ask.

This chapter reviews the ethical aspects of cyber security. Ethics, in general, underscores various studies in which right is distinct from wrong. The understanding of these delineations evokes various ethical issues in cyber security, such as the morality of human behavior, policies, laws, and social structures. Considering theories of consequentialism and deontology, ethical analyses of cyber security, information privacy and ethics, and privacy issues in the digital age are performed through the use of relevant ethically-driven cyber security case studies.

Studies in information security policy compliance (ISPC) have used a number of behavioral theories from criminology, public health, and economics research to understand why individuals inside organizations commit security policy violations. These theories and empirical studies have broadened our understanding of some of the most prevalent and most difficult to address causes of information security incidents: non-malicious and malicious acts of policy violations. However, there are a number of issues with current studies and certain observations that may be fruitful to address, both for future research as well as for practitioners in organizations. In this chapter, I summarize some of the major behavioral frameworks used in ISPC research, indicating the main causal variables studied, the results of these investigations, as well as practical implications for organizations. Given that many of the studies that adopt a rational actor perspective and a cost–benefit calculus have not obtained consistent results, I suggest a set of variables and behavioral effects that highlight how individuals commit a plethora of non-rational acts in their day-to-day activities, and that this basic understanding of human biases may be fruitful in the information security context. Moreover, I point to methodological challenges regarding self-reported studies and the problem of non-malicious acts being mixed with malicious acts. Lastly, I identify ethical challenges in controlling employee behavior and the importance of understanding behavioral ethics in the information security context and organizational settings.

This article sketches an ethics of (financial) speculation in futures markets. (1) It identifies an intentionalistic fallacy prevalent in moral criticisms of speculation in general and of financial speculation in particular. (2) It scrutinizes the degree to which the recent debate on financial speculation with agricultural commodities follows the general pattern of moral criticism and its intentionalistic fallacy. (3) It then provides a theoretical and empirical in-depth analysis of long-only index funds' engagement in futures markets and concludes that moral criticisms which put them in the pillory as “hungermakers” are unjust(ified). This proves that ethics, understood as a theory of morality, can criticize moral criticisms of financial speculation on moral grounds. (4) Finally, this article discusses the option of interdisciplinary cooperation between ethics and economics.