Ethics for IT Pro. Requirements

MONTH OF DECEMBER 2008

CLASS REQUIREMENTS

CASE NO. 1

For IT 125 & IT 326 (BSIT IA & BSIT III)

MISSING WHITE HOUSE E-MAIL

E-mail problems in the Clinton White House became public in February, 2000, through a $90 million class-action suit filed by Judicial Watch, a conservative group that had brought multiple law-suits against the Clinton administration since 1994.

In a sworn affidavit given in February 2000, Sheryl Hall, a computer specialist at the White House, said that she learned that beginning in August 1996, incoming e-mails to the Executive Office of the President were not transferred to computer systems in the White House. This transfer is part of a process called records management. Successful records management would allow the text of the e-mails to be searched in response to subpoenas and other inquiries. The e-mails involved were those sent to much of the West Wing staff, including the President and the top staff of the President and Mrs. Clinton.

Sheryl Hall went on to testify that because of this problem, when a searched of e-mails was done in the White House in response to a subpoena from an independent counsel, e-mails for the time period of November 1996 through at least November 1998 could not be searched. Although the White House officials learned of the records management problem (and its impact on searches in response to subpoenas) in May 1998, the problem was not fixed until after November 1998. As a result, six additional months on incoming e-mails were not records managed so that they could be searched for subpoenas.

The lost e-mails occurred at a time when members of Congress, the Justice Department, and the Office of Independent Counsel had issued subpoenas demanding all relevant White House documents related to campaign funding, the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas, and President Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky. These e-mails were also part of a larger case that originated when Judicial Watch sued the F.B.I. and other defendants after the Clinton administration was given access to hundreds of F.BI. files on government appointees who served under Presidents Reagan and Bush. Judicial Watch further alleges that the administration threatened the workers who maintained the e-mail system with retribution if they revealed the lack of e-mail backups.

The White House insisted that the error that cause the e-mail problem was entirely unintentional and blamed it on the technicians who inadvertently capitalized the name of the mail server, designed to store the messages, effectively sending them to a storage server that didn’t exist.

According to further testimony from the contractors responsible for the e-mail system to the House Government Reform Committee in March 2000, the problem was first detected in January 1998 by Daniel A. Barry, a member of the White House computer staff. When lawyers asked him to search the server for e-mails related to Lewinsky, Barry found two messages sent to Lewinsky, but he couldn’t find the corresponding e-mails from Lewinsky. Barry reported the incident to his supervisor, but he wasn’t sure whether the missing e-mails were a minor glitch or an indication of a bigger problem.

In March 2000, White House counsel Beth Nolan wrote to Representative Dan Burton, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, that back-up copies of the e-mail were stored on computer tapes, but that reconstructing them would cost between $1 million and $3 million and take as long as two years.

Clinton administration officials have insisted that they didn’t realize the scope of the problem, still don’t know how many e-mails were affected, and do not know if the e-mails were pertinent to investigations.

QUESTIONS:

1. State your reactions about the readings.
2. What is the White House records management process? What is the significance of the records management process?
3. Daniel Barry discovered a problem with that records management process in January 1998, but didn’t determine the extent of the problem. What further actions might he have taken to correctly assess the situation while avoiding potential personal repercussions?
4. What could Barry’s supervisor have done to identify the extent of the problem earlier? Why might he have failed to follow through on resolving the problem? Can you identify any reasons why there was a six-month delay from the time the problem was finally recognized until it was fixed?

Note:

Two students in one answer will be allowed, but individual will be much better. No text and paragraph formats required, but don’t forget the FrontPage which will contains the name(s) of student(s), course and section, date submitted, course description, case number, case title and the words “ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS”. Submit your computerized clear answers on “3-piece” plain papers (Frontpage included) before CHRISTMAS VACATION. No answers will be marked ZERO for this undertaking. STRICTLY: Late papers will not be accepted. Stapled papers will be good enough; do not place it in folder. Make use of your 2-weeks time wisely. Please follow instructions (as stated line-by-line in this paragraph). God Bless.

Source: Ethics in Information Technology by George Reynolds, Thomson Asian Edition, copyrighted @ 2006 by Course Technology (For sale in the Philippines only)

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CASE NO. 2

For IT 125 (BSIT IB)

ONLINE BROKERS EXPERIENCE PROBLEMS

In January 2001, Te Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a report calling for brokerage firms and securities dealers to evaluate their online trading programs – especially their processing capabilities. The most common complaints submitted to the SEC by users of Web trading sites are related to inadequate operational capabilities – failures or delays in processing orders online, difficulty in accessing online accounts, and the errors in processing orders. As a preventive measure, the SEC recommended that online brokers maintain detailed records of capacity evaluations, system slowdowns, and systems outages, including information about the causes and impacts of problems. The SEC also urged companies to use every reasonable effort to notify customers when they are experiencing operational difficulties.

On February 12, 2001, Charles Schwab & Co. was forced to switch its online trading Web site to a backup server for six hours. During this time period, the discounted broker’s customers were unable to either receive trade confirmation messages or view of previous transaction records. As a backup process, Schwab customers were notified to contact Schwab representatives by telephone. Customer database problems were caused by a glitch in off-the shelf software or a homegrown system, not processing capacity limitations. This disruption occurred barely one month after the SEC issued its warning to brokerage firms and securities dealers; however, no SEC fines or sanctions were levied against Charles Schwab as a result of this incident.

In the same month as the Charles Schwab incident, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) fined online brokerage TD Waterhouse Investor Services $225,000 and censured it for problems related to Web site failures that temporarily stopped it from filling online stock orders and for inadequate customer service related to the outages. According to a NYSE statement, TD Waterhouse was unable to process online customer orders on 33 different trade days over an 18-month period starting in late1998. During this time period, TD Waterhouse had approximately 250,000 online customer accounts placing an average of 48,000 trades per day with webBroker, its online order entry systems. The Web site failures ranged from a couple of minutes to nearly two hours.

The NYSE also said in its decision that TD Waterhouse didn’t maintain adequate telephone routing systems to handle orders that would have been placed online, resulting in lengthy telephone hold times for customers Furthermore, TD Waterhouse failed to adequately advise customers of an alternative touch-tone telephone order entry system, TradeDirect, that was available during all webBroker outages. As a result, many customers were unable to place orders.

To further compound their problems, it is alleged that TD Waterhouse failed to report some 18,000 verbal and 2300 e-mail complaints related to these outages to the SEC as required by Exchange Information Memorandum 98-3. The statistical information on customer complaints is important because the information discloses trends and issues that may be used in determining the focus of future SEC examinations.

TD Waterhouse accepted the penalties without admitting or denying its guilt. A TD Waterhouse spokesperson said that the firm was sanctioned for the way it handles the outages, not the actual outages. The software issues that caused the outages have been corrected and no webBrowser outages have been reported since April 2001.

QUESTIONS:

1. State your reactions about the readings.
2. What material differences exist between the outage experienced by Charles Schwab versus those of TD Waterhouse? Do you think that the differences were significant enough that it was fair that the one firm received no fine or sanctions while the other was heavily fined? Why or why not?
3. Do any elements of negligence present themselves in the actions of Charles Schwab? TD Waterhouse? Which company might be at greater risk of a negligence lawsuit on behalf of its customers? Why?
4. Imagine that you are an outside consultant assigned to a TD Waterhouse team charged with responsibility to “put an end” to customer service interruptions. One focus area you wish to explore is the need for a professional code of ethics, licensing, and/or certification of employees that have anything to do with the online brokerage systems. How would you assess if such actions are appropriate?

Note:

Two students in one answer will be allowed, but individual will be much better. No text and paragraph formats required, but don’t forget the FrontPage which will contains the name(s) of student(s), course and section, date submitted, course description, case number, case title and the words “ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS”. Submit your computerized clear answers on “3-piece” plain papers (Frontpage included) before CHRISTMAS VACATION. No answers will be marked ZERO for this undertaking. STRICTLY: Late papers will not be accepted. Stapled papers will be good enough; do not place it in folder. Make use of your 2-weeks time wisely. Please follow instructions (as stated line-by-line in this paragraph). God Bless.

Source: Ethics in Information Technology by George Reynolds, Thomson Asian Edition, copyrighted @ 2006 by Course Technology (For sale in the Philippines only)

IT 226-Data Struct & Algo Requirements

Class Requirements for the Month of December 2008

BSIT 2 – A----------------------> BSIT 2A

1. Write a program using standard string functions that accepts a price of an item and display its coded value base on the following keys:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

X O M A C H I N E S

Sample Output:

Enter price: 489.50

Code Value: CES.HX

2. Write a program using string functions that will accept the name of the capital as input value and will display the corresponding country.

Capitals Countries

Manila Philippines

Rome Italy

Moscow U.S.S.R

Washington United States

NOTE: Answer the problems above using TC. Write your answers on “2-piece” plain papers, first page will be for Problem 1, second page for Problem2. Do not forget to write your name. No need to computerize it, hand written will be accepted. Submit your answers before Christmas Vacation. No answers will be marked ZERO for this undertaking. STRICTLY: Late papers will not be accepted. Stapled papers will be good enough; do not place it in folder. Make use of your 2-weeks time wisely. Please follow instructions (as stated line-by-line in this paragraph). God Bless.

LABORATORY CLASS

Laboratory Assignment #1

Develop a program that determines if a department store customer has exceeded the credit limit on a charge account. For each customer, the following facts are available:

· Account Number

· Balance at the beginning of the month

· Total of all items charged by this customer this month

· Total Amount of items

· Paid Amount/total credit applied

· Allowed credit limit

The program should input as integer each of these facts, calculate the new balance (equals beginning balance + charges this month – credits), display the new balance and determine if the new balance exceeds the customer’s credit limit. For those customers whose credit limit is exceeded, the program should display the message, “Credit Limit Exceeded”, else, “Thank you for Shopping”.

Laboratory Assignment #2

Write a program that uses looping to print the following table of values:

N	10*N	100*N	1000*N
1 2 3 4 5	10 20 30 40 50	100 200 300 400 500	1000 2000 3000 4000 5000

NOTE: The above problems are some of the midterm laboratory requirements. The first thing to do is to create and compile it on your preferred basic compiler e.g. Turbo C. Next is to convert or translate the codes created using TC into CPP file. From CPP you should convert it into Visual Basic programs using Console Application. It is therefore assumed, that you will submit and present SIX types of “run able” programs. Checking will be done at the laboratory (next year-2009) for those who wish to create there. However, if you can be able to work and perform it outside the campus, we can have the evaluation at the eng’g office (if PC’s available).

BSIT 2 – B -------------------------------> BSIT 2B

1. Write a program using standard string functions that accepts a coded value of an item and display its equivalent tag price base on the following keys:

X O M A C H I N E S

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Sample Output:

Enter coded value: CES.HX

Tag Price: 489.50

3. Write a program using string functions that will accept a place in CARAGA Region as input value and will display the corresponding Province.

Place Province

Bislig Surigao del Sur

Trento Agusan del Sur

Ampayon Agusan del Norte

Poblacion Surigao del Norte

NOTE: Answer the problems above using TC. Write your answers on “2-piece” plain papers, first page will be for Problem 1, second page for Problem2. Do not forget to write your name. No need to computerize it, hand written will be accepted. Submit your answers before Christmas Vacation. No answers will be marked ZERO for this undertaking. STRICTLY: Late papers will not be accepted. Stapled papers will be good enough; do not place it in folder. Make use of your 2-weeks time wisely. Please follow instructions (as stated line-by-line in this paragraph). God Bless.

LABORATORY CLASS

Laboratory Assignment #1

Develop a program that determines of a student could proceed to the next level of learning (4^th year). For each student, the following facts are available:

1. Student number/id
2. English Grade
3. Filipino Grade
4. Math Grade
5. Science Grade
6. P.E. Grade

The program should calculate for the general average of a student, display the average and determine if he could proceed to the next level of learning. For students whose general average is below 85, the program should display the message “Sorry, you have to repeat this level of learning before you can proceed to 4^th year”, else “Congrats, you’re qualified for the next level”

Laboratory Assignment #2

Write a program that calculates the squares and cubes of the number 0 to 5 and prints the resulting values in table format as follows:

Number	Square	Cube
0 1 2 3 4 5	0 1 4 9 16 25	0 1 8 27 64 125

NOTE: The above problems are some of the midterm laboratory requirements. The first thing to do is to create and compile it on your preferred basic compiler e.g. Turbo C. Next is to convert or translate the codes created using TC into CPP file. From CPP you should convert it into Visual Basic programs using Console Application. It is therefore assumed, that you will submit and present SIX types of “run able” programs. Checking will be done at the laboratory (next year-2009) for those who wish to create there. However, if you can be able to work and perform it outside the campus, we can have the evaluation at the eng’g office (if PC’s available).

IT 421 - Client Server Requirements

IT 421 – Client Server Programming for the month of December

Programming using visual basic 6.0 is not just creating designs and inserting codes into the controls, but also analyzing the codes to come up with the correct designs. This activity will enhance your analyzes skill and this activity will serve as your laboratory activity number 2. As much as the subject is concerned, it is assumed that the following systems contain client and server. Analyze the code and answer the questions that follow after it. This is individual.

CLIENT SERVER SYSTEMS Activity 2

Instructions:

1. Create a vb project for Server system and another (separate) project for Client System.
2. Add the tool/control Microsoft Winsock 6.0 in your toolbox from your project components.
3. Drag the added control to your server and client project forms.
4. Create the design as shown below, and input the codes.

SYSTEM 1

Controls Description

Label1 = Message to the client

Label2 = Message from the client

Text1 = txtSenderMsg

Text2 = txtReceiverMsg

Text1 Multiline = True

Text1 ScrollBars = Vertical

Text2 Multiline = True

Text2 ScrollBars = Vertical

Winsock1 = wsckServer

Command1 = cmdSend

Codes

Private Sub cmdSend_Click()

Dim msg As String

msg = txtSenderMsg

wsckServer.SendData msg

End Sub

Private Sub Form_Activate()

wsckServer.LocalPort = "1001" 'any number defined as a Port Number as same as in the Client Program

wsckServer.Listen

End Sub

Private Sub Form_Terminate()

wsckServer.Close

End Sub

Private Sub wsckServer_ConnectionRequest(ByVal requestID As Long)

If wsckServer.State <> sckClosed Then wsckServer.Close

wsckServer.Accept requestID

End Sub

Private Sub wsckServer_DataArrival(ByVal bytesTotal As Long)

Dim msg As String

wsckServer.GetData msg

txtReceiverMsg = msg

End Sub

SYSTEM 2

Controls Description

Label1 = Message to the Server

Label2 = Message from the server

Text1 = txtSenderMsg

Text2 = txtReceiverMsg

Text1 Multiline = True

Text1 ScrollBars = Vertical

Text2 Multiline = True

Text2 ScrollBars = Vertical

Winsock1 = wsckServer

Command1 = cmdSend

Codes

Private Sub optConnect_Click()

End Sub

Private Sub optDisConnect_Click()

wsckClient.Close

optConnect.Enabled = True

optDisconnect.Enabled = False

txtSenderMsg.Enabled = False: txtReceiverMsg.Enabled = False

End Sub

Private Sub Form_Activate()

wsckClient.RemoteHost = "192.168.1.138"

wsckClient.RemotePort = "1001

wsckClient.Connect

End Sub

Private Sub wsckClient_DataArrival(ByVal bytesTotal As Long)

Dim msg As String

wsckClient.GetData msg

txtReceiverMsg = msg

End Sub

Private Sub cmdSend_Click()

On Error GoTo last

wsckClient.SendData txtSenderMsg

Exit Sub

last:

If Err.Number = 40006 Then

MsgBox "Not connected, Try again"

End If

End Sub

Private Sub Form_Terminate()

wsckClient.Close

End Sub

Questions:

1. Determine which is the Client System and the Server System from two systems presented above. Why? Justify your answer.
2. From question 1, create the DESIGN (illustrate) for Client and for Server.
3. Discuss how the controls and its equivalent descriptions being performed for the client and the server system. Example: Label1 = Message to the Client. Why does it set as shown, where should I perform it? E.g. design window mode, code window, property window, explorer window and etc. Step-by-step explanation is encouraged.
4. Discuss the general performance of the systems. How these perform things. What’s the role of client to the server and vice versa?
5. Discuss the scope of the systems. Is it specified command or user-defined command and etc.

NOTE: No text and paragraph formats required, but don’t forget the FrontPage which will contains the names of students, course, date submitted, subject Description and the words “ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS”. Submit your computerized clear answers on a maximum of 10 but not less than 8 pages plain papers (excluding the frontpage) before CHRISTMAS VACATION. No answers will be marked ZERO for this undertaking. STRICTLY: Late papers will not be accepted. Stapled papers will be good enough; do not place it in folder. Make use of your 2-weeks time wisely. Please follow instructions (as stated line-by-line in this paragraph). God Bless.

IT 422-FREE ELECTIVE Requirements

Month of December 2008 Requirements

Make a decision and finalize your topics for presentation about the information systems. Carefully study the chosen system, categorize and make a discussion about the following aspects:

1. People – who are involved in the system and what are their roles and why they are important.
2. Hardware – what are the physical requirements, explain the use, and how these things being used in the system.
3. Software – the logical requirements, uses, and how these things being used.
4. Data/Information – what particular information the system’s processes, how these informations affect the business, what’s the impact of this info., how these info. being used.
   
5. Processes/Rules – what are the processes the system performs and how?

Note:

Work on this activity by pair. No text and paragraph formats required, but don’t forget the FrontPage which will contains the names of students, course, date submitted, and the Information System’s Name. Submit your computerized clear answers on a minimum of 5 pages plain papers (excluding the frontpage) before CHRISTMAS VACATION. No answers will be marked ZERO for this undertaking. STRICTLY: Late papers will not be accepted. Stapled papers will be good enough; do not place it in folder. Make use of your 2-weeks time wisely. Please follow instructions (as stated line-by-line in this paragraph). God Bless.

CLASS PRESENTATION GUIDE

Include the above aspects in your presentation. Create an abstract or rationale telling why the class should listen to the said topic. Discuss the Project Statement – The Problem, present its objectives, and significance of the project. Also, include the systems analysis report – the mechanism of how the system be created as well as its processes. Systems Analysis Report should contain Systems Requirements Specification.