Chapter 10 — Engineering ethics and safety
Lesson map
Lesson 10 published. Map, example, EX028.
flowchart TD
N0["Learning outcomes"]
N1["10.1 Professional duty"]
N2["10.2 Authorised testing"]
N3["10.3 Privacy in monitoring"]
N4["10.4 Safety connections"]
N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4
N4 --> EX["Worked example"]
EX --> Q["Exercise EX028"]
Logical drawing
flowchart LR
N0["Learning outcomes"]
N1["10.1 Professional duty"]
N2["10.2 Authorised testing"]
N3["10.3 Privacy in monitoring"]
N4["10.4 Safety connections"]
N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4 --> Q["EX028"]
[Learning outcomes]
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v
[10.1 Professional duty]
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v
[10.2 Authorised testing]
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v
[10.3 Privacy in monitoring]
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v
[10.4 Safety connections]
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v
[Worked example] --> [Exercise EX028]
Learning outcomes
You will (1) apply professional ethics to security work; (2) handle discovered vulnerabilities responsibly; (3) respect privacy in monitoring.
10.1 Professional duty
Engineers owe duties to the public as well as to employers. Lindiwe reads professional codes that emphasise honesty, competence and protecting people from harm. In security work, this means not overstating assurance, not using access beyond what a task needs and reporting risks even when inconvenient. Prof. Hale discusses a case where an engineer signed off a system as secure under deadline pressure; customers' data were later exposed. Lindiwe notes that signatures carry responsibility. She writes a short reflection on the case for her course portfolio.
10.2 Authorised testing
During her placement, Lindiwe notices a depot web page that appears to reveal other customers' tracking details when a number in the address is changed. She does not explore further to see how much data is exposed. She reports what she saw to her placement manager, who confirms she is not authorised to test the site. The security team investigates and fixes it. She learns that curiosity must stay within written authorisation, even with good intentions. Her manager thanks her for stopping when she did.
10.3 Privacy in monitoring
Security monitoring records what staff do. Lindiwe helps review Saltmarsh's monitoring notice and finds it does not mention that web browsing is logged. She recommends updating the notice, limiting who can view browsing logs and keeping them only as long as needed for security purposes. Prof. Hale explains that monitoring which staff do not know about damages trust and may breach data protection rules. The human resources director and the security lead approve the revised notice together, and staff receive it by email with a short explanation of what is logged and why.
10.4 Safety connections
Some Saltmarsh systems affect physical safety: refrigerated trailers carry medicines, and their temperature data must be accurate. A tampered temperature record could let spoiled medicines reach patients. Lindiwe notes that integrity failures here are safety failures, not just data problems. She recommends integrity protection for sensor records and clear escalation when readings are missing. She learns that security engineering sometimes protects lives as well as information. The fleet team adds a check that raises an alarm when a trailer's temperature record has gaps, and Lindiwe documents the new rule in her placement report.
Worked example
Lindiwe reports a possible data exposure without testing it, recommends a clearer monitoring notice and links integrity of temperature records to patient safety.
Synthetic case. Incidents are synthetic.
Errors and limits
Testing a live system without authorisation is not acceptable, even to help.
Exercises
- EX028 — Untested report. What does Lindiwe do on noticing the exposure? Rubric: 3 = reports it without testing further;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = test;; 0 = none.
- EX029 — Notice gap. What did the monitoring notice omit? Rubric: 3 = web browsing logging;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = other;; 0 = none.
- EX030 — Safety link. Why do temperature records matter for safety? Rubric: 3 = tampering could let spoiled medicines reach patients;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.
Continue studying — lesson 10 (chapter 10 of 50)
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