LogoMotive October 2006

Employee Sabotage!

By: Jeffrey Lipshaw

AFL Computer Consulting, LLC

Remember the good old days when disgruntled employees simply stole office supplies, faked being sick to take time off, or bad-mouthed the boss to vent their frustration? Not anymore. There is a growing trend of vindictive employees who are hacking their employers’ networks to steal and destroy valuable electronic files and data.

60% Of Network Break-Ins Are Done By Disgruntled Employees

Law enforcement professionals estimate that 60% of computer system break-ins are done by disgruntled employees. This sabotage can take many forms including stealing customer lists, accessing and distributing proprietary financial records and payroll information, committing business check fraud, or siphoning money from business bank accounts.

It’s Not Just Unhappy Employees

It’s not just obviously disgruntled employees who become problems. Employees who are facing financial difficulties, have drug problems, or who might even be plotting to start a rival company or take a new job with a competitor pose serious threats. Then there are the well-intentioned employees who simply make a mistake. We know of one company that accidentally e-mailed their entire client database to a direct competitor because they didn’t know how to use the “blind carbon copy” feature in Outlook.

How Much Damage Can One Employee Do?

Lockheed Marin’s e-mail system crashed for 6 hours after an employee sent 60,000 of his co-workers an e-mail with a request for an electronic receipt. They were forced to fly in a Microsoft rescue squad to repair the damage caused by this one employee. In another case, a disgruntled Forbes Inc. computer technician deliberately caused five of the publisher’s eight servers to crash after he was fired. All of the information on the servers was permanently erased. As a result, Forbes had to shut down its New York operations for two days and sustained losses in excess of $100,000.

Your First Line of Defense

The first line of defense is, of course, to run a background check on every prospective employee before you hire them. Most employers still skip over this even though a background check can be obtained for as little as $10.

Next, you need to draft an acceptable user policy that is included in every employee’s contract and in your employee handbook. This should be signed and dated by both you and your employees. Be sure to include language stipulating that all work produced belongs to the company and not to the worker. You should also define what employees can and cannot do with work e-mail, Internet access, and data.

Finally, we recommend installing employee monitoring software to enforce your acceptable user policy and prevent employees from accidentally sending inappropriate or confidential information to the outside world.

Need Help Securing Your Network From Employee Sabotage?

Whether you need a simple acceptable user policy or a more comprehensive monitoring solution, we can help. Give us a call at 248-425-0009 or email at jeff.lipshaw@aflcc.com

Click Here to visit the AFL Computer Consulting, LLC website or call us at 248-425-0009

Articles in this edition of LogoMotive:

Conductor

Employee Sabotage     Effective Email

No Fraud