Tip: When Leaving Your Job At An ISP, Don't Cancel All Its Customer Accounts
from the just-a-suggestion dept
It's no surprise that people who are leaving their jobs (especially to go work for a competitor) may have a certain dislike for their ex-employer -- but it's still amazing that people don't realize that attacking them isn't a particularly good idea. A former employee of a wireless ISP in Utah apparently logged back into the computers of his former employer (shame on them for leaving access open to the guy) and cutting off customer accounts by reprogramming customer access points. There are plenty of cases detailing similar attacks on former employers -- but it's amazing that these people don't expect to get caught. In this latest case, not only was the guy caught, he's now been sentenced to two years in jail. Still, there are some oddities here. Apparently after the guy turned off service for these customers, it took up to three weeks to reprovision some of them. That seems like an excessively long time -- though, if the company left their computer network open to a former employee who left on bad terms, perhaps they weren't the most technically savvy ISP out there.
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Doing well is the best revenge.
Doing well is the best revenge against divorce, layoff, reject or loosing on American Idle. (not mis-spelling)
Oh, yeah, I'm first.
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Re: Doing well is the best revenge.
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Re: Doing well is the best revenge.
Idle may be your idea of a clever play on words, but you may want to look up the word "losing"......
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Re: Doing well is the best revenge.
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Not Uncommon.
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3 weeks not surprising
Its easy enough to screw this up by accident when making simple changes, so it would be VERY easy to do intentionally.
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disproportionate
But I think handing him a prison term of 2 years is more wrong, a greater crime than either his actions or those of the employer that fired him (assuming it was an unfair or malicious dismissal).
When crimes against property are punished more severely than crimes against the person we are in danger of losing the legitimacy of our justice system. But when crimes against *abstract* property are punished more severely than crimes against tangible property or the individual, well then I can't see how anybody can maintain respect for the law.
In a civillised society he would get 100 hours community service and a lasting conviction that would make working another ISP very hard.
In America, where 1/30th of the population are in prison, he is now entering a penal system that will expand his exposure to criminal mentality, cultivate his grudge against society and ultimately place him at greater risk of reoffending.
The purpose of a criminal justice system is primarily to protect society, not to punish the individual. In the USA they seem to have it the wrong way round. The authoritarian mentality is a pathology that is counterproductive in every case.
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Re: disproportionate
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Re: disproportionate
Now why is it so hard for the average American to hold such intelligence? Because we're rich, fat, lazy, retards that would rather watch Larry the Cable Guy than grow a brain.
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Liberal Attitude
People learn to take responsibility for their actions. Jail time for behaving like a child and defacing a company will give him time to think about becoming an adult.
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Re: Liberal Attitude
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Re: Liberal Attitude
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Re: disproportionate
The is like the old anecdote, when a guy was complaining about the unfairness of being hung for stealing a horse.
The answer was "You are not being hung just for stealing a horse, you are also being hung that others will not steal a horse."
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Re: disproportionate
And the point of the penal system is to rehabilitate criminals, not punish them. If sending someone to a prison increases their risk of reoffending there is a problem with that particular prison, because that was certainly not the idea when they were put in place.
Forming a group of words in an intelligent manner does not make the point of the formation correct. Try enrolling in Criminal Justice 101 before you attempt to theorize on the criminal justice system.
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Re: disproportionate
Not only was it a crime againt the ISP in question, it was also a crime against EVERY customer whose account he destroyed.
His two year sentence was very mild, under the circumstances.
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Re: disproportionate
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Wrong and teaches a lesson
There *should* be a method and proceedure in place for all companies no matter how big or small.. with a checklist to go down, passwords to change and accounts to disable upon termination.
Most employees *do* know more than their own account and password.. even if they are not supposed to know others. Maybe others will learn from this and prevent it from happening in their company so easily when they terminate an employee
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riiiight.
In this day and age, email is just an important method of communication as any other-- not to mention that in all reality, he took it out on the company's customers, not on the company. That makes him an asshat in my book. To make it even more fun, the man seems to have left to start his own company-- so I have a feeling this wasn't revenge, but instead a way to knock out his competition-- even more asshattery taking place right there.
As for crimes against abstract property-- well, he gained access to a computer he had no rights to access (the fact that he had his own password doesn't matter-- just having a key to your house doesn't give me the right to enter it) and that is a serious crime to me-- how much personal information can be found on a computer? A business computer? He showed a complete disregard to who he would affect by his actions.
Two years? That seems fair. Next time slash the boss' tires like everyone else.
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consequences
And when his front wheel blows out on the fast lane and he dies, along with the family in the oncoming vehicle that he hits - then what?
You see, your reply merely confirms that there is no sense of proportion
in our world today, we have totally lost the ability to take measure of things because of disproportionate violence sanctioned by the state
and the encouragement of agressive behaviour.
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Re: consequences
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He didn't do it the right way
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I did something ....
I didn't want to be held responsible if something really bad happen so I set one of the servers to back up every hour on the hour. I know this caused headaches for some of the clients but it got the company to change the passwords the next day.
Needless to say this company is no longer around and this was back in 2001 but just goes to show things haven't changed.
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Rims
Speaking of sense of proportion, do you feel that what this guy did ws proportionate to the 'money issues' he was having at his old job? I don't think it has any bearing anyway-- he got off light, as the law allows. The max time for first offense is 10 years. (20 for second) and the reason it's so large is because it's related to the Patriot Act. (It doubled them)
What I'm trying to say is, if we let the guy off with a slap on the wrist, the terrorists win. ;)
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Re: Rims
No Joe I don't. I already said in so many words that I think the chap was a prick.
"anyway-- he got off light, as the law allows. The max time for first offense is 10 years."
No he didn't, not in my opinion. The very fact that such harsh laws exist is something you should be utterly ashamed of. I realise we differ there, but perhaps you need to look at why you feel so vengeful and who that is really directed against.
And how do you square that with a fraudster from the Enron company whos embezzlement of millions of dollars results in
a cautionary ruling? Using your logic of arbitary justice do you think it would be acceptable for a cop to shoot a member of your family for looking at him cockeyed?
"and the reason it's so large is because it's related to the Patriot Act."
I really can't take you seriously if you are going to quote that comic instrument of oppression. But from your last quip, I suspect deep down you do actually understand, but you're playing up to a role because you don't have the guts to speak up and say "No, enough! I find this unnacceptable in my country" That would be the patriotic thing to do. I think the authoratarian mind is bizzare, but understandable - you want the law to be harsh because you feel vulnerable and you want to be protected by something strong. That is just latent fear an immature lack of personal responsibilty. Strong people not only set their own high ethical standards, they live up to them without appeal to authority. At least after they leave school.
btw, slashing a tyre can be a pretty dangerous thing to do, people lose fingers and eyes (because of the very high pressures)
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Re: Re: Rims
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Re: Re: Rims
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ah, of course
Perhaps you could explain the obviously very subtle difference there for us less intelligent posters.
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Re: ah, of course
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Re: ah, of course
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Re: Re: ah, of course
Though, if
A = evading detection and
B = not being punished
it is difficult to imagine anybody assuming A does not imply B
though perhaps as Erica says, he really thought it was "okay"
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Re: Re: Re: ah, of course
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correction
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blah blah
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too little information
does he have any priors?
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..
there are alot of companies that do not take security seriously which is a huge mistake..in any case, smaller and mid-sized companies need to look at incidents like this, and realize YOU ARE ALL VULNERABLE..
you need to create a budge and a plan for securing your network, systems, and most importantly overall, YOUR BUSINESS!
what the guy did was wrong, but it serves the isp right for overlooking such a critical issue in todays society..
security will make or break you or or business..remember that..
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Think about customer security
I mean when your approach towards an employee who is leaving is so lax think about the security they may provide for their customers.
I as a part of my role I play at my company apart from the best wishes I give to my leaving colleague (however closely i know them), first ask my system admin to cancel all accounts they held for company purposes including the company email account.
If i would have been a customer of that ISP I would have sued them first.
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comprehension
correct, as I said
In fact there are FOUR (4) functions of a criminal justice system.
i) protect society
ii) provide a deterrent
iii) provide a sense of justice to the victim
iv) rehabilitate the individual
Read what I wrote before jumping in with your eager desire to contradict me. You missed the word "primarily". Go back and read it again.
"Forming a group of words in an intelligent manner does not make the point of the formation correct."
And you've given a proof. Stop trying to be clever, because you clearly cannot even read.
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Three little words:
(joking!)
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This is bad...
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Hmmm
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thats why
Might just as well went into his company with a gun and killed everybody
when that happens now you know why .
Good luck at your job.
America the prison country
Thats why so many people hide in there house afraid to go outside
its the police they are scared of not crime
Iknow lots of people who go to prison
Not one victim of crime.
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Re: thats why
This man chose to do what he did. He knew the consequences of his criminal acts. Yet he went ahead and committed his crimes anyway.
How about a little consideration for the VICTIMS rather than the PERPETRATOR?
By the way, the victims of violent crime DO "go to prisons" of the perpetrator's making, until justice is served. The results of such crimes leave their victims in emotional bars not of their making, which can bind them for years...much longer than the two years this dufus got. In some cases, the monetary damages to the victims last for much longer than 2 years.
Whiner!!!
Start considering what these crimes do to the victims, rather than what they do to "American Prisons".
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Pride in Your Work
Attention to detail shows.
If you are going to do something do it properly.
www.adgerlinux.com
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Pride in Your Work
Attention to detail shows.
If you are going to do something do it properly.
www.adgerlinux.com
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Worst Boss Revenge
Imagine how the other employees ( who he mostly hired as clones ) thought of him?
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got cha!
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