Today I decided to talk about Gen. James Cartwright his guilty plea regarding the mishandling of classified information. Though this story is a bit old, it interested me due to the many ethical issues that it brought up. To start this has been an ongoing case since 2012 when classified information regarding Stuxnet, a computer virus designed to hamper Iran’s nuclear program, was leaked to the public. At the time Gen. Cartwright denied claims of being the source of the leak but has now retracted that statement.
Moving on to the ethical issues, I am going to start with the Stuxnet virus in general. Though created to prevent the development of nuclear weapons by Iran, the virus got out and “infected millions of computers around the world.” (Groll) This begs the question whether or not the US did the right thing in developing the Virus. Though it did cripple Iran’s nuclear program it also hindered people globally for no reason. In quote by norton, “Stuxnet is a computer worm that targets industrial control systems that are used to monitor and control large scale industrial facilities like power plants, dams, waste processing systems and similar operations. It allows the attackers to take control of these systems without the operators knowing. This is the first attack we’ve seen that allows hackers to manipulate real-world equipment, which makes it very dangerous.” (Norton) This begs the question, was it ok for the US to develop such a dangerous weapon. Next on the list of issues this topic brought up is the spread of misinformation brought on by Gen. Cartwright original statement. Though he was clearly cited as the source of the leaks, he lied to the FBI and claimed to have no connection to the leak. This claim prolonged to FBI investigation for several years. On top of prolonging an FBI investigation, it also helped spread misinformation regarding the case. Fake news is a serious problem which I am going in more detail in my research paper. The Final issue this story brought up and the one most fascinating to me is the sentencing. Though no official sentencing has yet to be given, according to the article Gen. Cartwright is only facing zero to six months in prison. The other shocking part is that he is not being sentenced for the leaking of classified information but for lying during an FBI investigation. This sentencing may create a bad pretense for how this sort of case is handled and also makes it seem that Gen. Cartwright is getting off light due to his rank. I have to ask, what are other people’s thoughts on this. Personally I just find this whole thing fascinating. Scary but fascinating. Groll, Elias. "'Obama's General' Pleads Guilty to Leaking Stuxnet Operation." Foreign Policy. The Cable, 17 Oct. 2016. Web. 16 Mar. 2017 "Stuxnet Worm – Malware Virus Attack | Norton." Stuxnet Worm – Malware Virus Attack | Norton. Norton, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
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AuthorIan Kindall a CD major emphasizing in Game Design Archives
May 2017
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