Current problems of moral research and education in the IT environment

Prevention of computer crime includes two types of action: first, enhancement of computer security, and second, moral education adjusted to the IT environments. The latter is the main theme of the paper. Research on moral conduct in the IT environment is currently being carried out under the heading of cyberethics. New trends in cyberethics are discussed, aimed at reducing harmful effects of adolescents’ uncontrollable misuse of computers and the Internet. One of the reasons of this misuse is inability of younger generations to transfer rules of moral conduct to the new (virtual) environments. To reduce the number of newcomers to hackers/carders/crackers/phreakers’ communities, world-wide educational courses for adolescents are urgently needed. The objective of these educational programs need to be the development of flexible decision making in moral situations, including those inherent of the IT environments. The programs and training sessions need to be internationally approved and realized, since computer crime is trans-national. It is proposed that the theoretical background of this educational program might be the Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral development, which was worked out within the field of developmental psychology. Fieldwork research is needed, aimed at finding out the specifics of moral views of computer-savvy adolescents in different countries, and at working out programs of moral education which would fit the new environments.