Abstract

Fortune 500 non-management employees who work in their company's information systems department were polled via a mail survey; of 191 surveys sent (one to a company), 123 (64%) were returned. Virtually all respondents (97%) indicated that management should define ethical computer use for employees. A majority of respondents (60%) reported that the method management uses to do this should be some form of consensus building. Almost two thirds of respondents (63%) reported that the definition of ethical computer use was well known in their organization. Finally, over half of the respondents (55%) had no personal knowledge that computer abuse occurred in their organization – a surprisingly favorable finding. Of responses indicating knowledge of computer abuse, only about a quarter (26%) indicated direct evidence of the problem.