Assignment: Is Password Sharing an Acceptable Behavior?

You are working as part of a small IT staff in a family-run manufacturing business with fifty employees. One of your IT coworkers shows you a Microsoft Excel sheet he has created that lists the user names and passwords of many of the employees in the company. He states that he compiled the list for the following reasons:

• If an employee is away from his or her computer, the list allows IT personnel to unlock the computer and fix whatever issue the employee may be having without waiting for his or her return.

• Using the employee's own user name and password to log on prevents confusion. Otherwise, upon returning to the computer, an employee will not be able to log on if he or she doesn't notice that the user name is "Administrator."

• Logging on to the computer and to applications as the user allows IT personnel to confirm that problems have been fixed and minimizes the number of return visits to the computer, resulting in faster service for the end user.

He recommends that you also use the Microsoft Excel sheet and that you add user names and passwords to it when possible. Once the sheet is complete, his plan is to share the sheet with the entire IT staff.

Tasks:

• Consider the arguments presented by your coworker.

• Identify and discuss the ethical issues in this scenario and write a 1- to 2-page paper discussing whether you agree or don't agree with him. Discuss what you would recommend to management regarding the list.