Insider trading is one of the most severe breaches of ethics in a Business. It is the releasing of stock/company information and even buying or selling a security as a breach of fiduciary duty/trust while in possession of non public information. Basically, using inside company information that other people don’t have access to and using it to gain monetary benefits. It is unfair ethically to other investors, it is a big betrayal to the company you are working for and is a crime punishable by prison. So the question remains, WHY do people do it?? The answer is greed as it is for so many similar situations. Like I mentioned before, remaining true to both your own and the business ethics that are in place is the most important way to make sure you never go down this path. Insider trading, though a is still very widely done and even accepted in few businesses for situations such as maintaining business power or making sure profits are shared equally. But overall, using knowledge that is otherwise unavailable to other people and using that to get a competitive advantage is a very distasteful act which goes against both personal and business ethics.