Corporations are not legally empowered to apply force, or punish, anyone. Only governments have that power, as handed down by the people through a constitution, or as taken by a fascist/despotic/dictatorial regime. Frankly, this may come down to a free speech issue, though he not only incited the techno-violence (that's not the best word, but it might do), but he also provided the ammunition (passwords) and pointed the gun (posting on an IRC channel known to be used by Anonymous or similar hackers).
I think he will ultimately lose, though the charge should not be hacking. It shouldn't be vandalism either. He technically did neither. Is there a federal law against inciting mischief? Aiding and abetting a criminal enterprise? In an analog sense, he left the keys to the store on a park bench with a note saying "these are the keys to store down the street, have at it."
Nevermind that the administrator should have locked him out of the system before he left the building on his last day. That the companies systems should have been properly firewalled and segmented to authenticate persons and authorize access only to areas relevant to that persons position. I'm sure Anonymous will cheerfully confirm that corporations and governments the world over do a horrible job of closing the door on folks when they walk out.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by MilWorker.
Re: Re:
I think he will ultimately lose, though the charge should not be hacking. It shouldn't be vandalism either. He technically did neither. Is there a federal law against inciting mischief? Aiding and abetting a criminal enterprise? In an analog sense, he left the keys to the store on a park bench with a note saying "these are the keys to store down the street, have at it."
Nevermind that the administrator should have locked him out of the system before he left the building on his last day. That the companies systems should have been properly firewalled and segmented to authenticate persons and authorize access only to areas relevant to that persons position. I'm sure Anonymous will cheerfully confirm that corporations and governments the world over do a horrible job of closing the door on folks when they walk out.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by MilWorker.
Submit a story now.