Stick to the Code

Even traditionally criminal organizations like pirates and the mafia had (or currently have) codes of ethics against which member's behavior was measured--though criminal organizations would generally only care about ethical behavior toward their own members, or other closely linked groups. Computing professionals have an even greater need to live by a code of ethics and morals, because of the positions their work can put them in.  As the ones who are creating and maintaining the computer systems that will be running the world in the immediate future, they are given access to enormous amounts of private data on other people and organizations, from personal health histories to corporate financial holdings. With this access comes and expectation of trust that the computing professionals need to meet.  This trust is fragile, and can easily be broken through unethical and dishonest behavior.