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Thread: Disgruntled Employees. An Infosec Nightmare.

  1. #1
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    Disgruntled Employees. An Infosec Nightmare.

    We as technicians sometimes forget the details of human interaction and interpersonal communication determine the succes of a closely knitted department such as IT. You may or may not be buddies with your co-workers. For those that you hang out with after work or eat lunch with everyday, their motives are probably apparent. They want to do a good job for you or those with concerns will be able to openly discuss them.

    On the other hand, there are the guys that have the office at the end of the hall or in the basement and you see them when they work late or in passing or by the coffee machine. This could be your telecom guy or your network admin. or your intern. You ask "How are you coming on that project?" or "Don't forget we have that meeting at 3:00." You depart thinking that you need to grab your docs off the printer or top off your coffee cup before heading back to your office. But what does the person that you just spoke with think? Do you know?
    They see it as the only time that you speak is when you give them orders or check on the status of a report that the department as a whole will probably get cretdit for. What if this guy has been under the gun from day one? What if his or her workload has been more than they could handle for some time, yet no one asked if they needed assistance? What if they did not get that raise that they were hoping for at the end of the year? As far as everyone knows, this person puts in 40+ and never complains about tasks given to them. No one ever thought this guy was dropping easter eggs all over the network and creating back doors here and there or even putting IP addresses and passwords out on hacker forums.
    How would you know? There is a better chance that you could prevent this type of scenario easier than knowing it was going on behind the scenes. It is important to have a closeness and a sense of trust among IT personnell. Especially in your networking and systems group. If this person that was previously mentioned, was invited out to lunch everyday with everyone else, or if some of the other guys/gals said "Hey, wanna go down to the pub with us after work?" or "Some of us are going on an X trip this weekend, would you like to go?" An issue such as this may be nullified. Or at least, after a few beers down at the local bar, you may hear, "Well you know, I've felt really pressured lately to get the X project finished and I'm afraid I will not be able to meet the deadline" All of the sudden, an avenue of communication is open. What if the next response is, "I was speaking to the director about this project the other day and he said that you would probably need help, but you have not asked, so everything must be going ok." Who knows what could come out, eh? I'm not devoting this openess to the beer either. It's just plainly interpersonal communication.
    So what happens next? The tech rolls into work the next morning and deletes malicious code on the network that was put there to wreak havoc 100 hours after he gets canned, then goes and asks the director for help on the current project. So, what am I getting at? A large percentage of cases of compromised network security happens from inside the company and the worst aspect of a disgruntled worker is that you will not know their tenure until it is too late. So, get to know your co-workers. Don't allow anyone to be a loner. Periodically find out what is going on with everyone at work and at home. The closer you are with your teammates, the more understandable and predictable everyone becomes.........
    There are many rewarding oppurtunities awaiting composure from like minds and great ideas. It in my objective to interconnect great things.

  2. #2
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    Let me know if you guys agree or disagree.
    There are many rewarding oppurtunities awaiting composure from like minds and great ideas. It in my objective to interconnect great things.

  3. #3
    @ÞΜĮЙǐЅŦГǻţΩЯ D0pp139an93r's Avatar
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    I agree, but I feel that it should not be limited to just tech people. When you are part of a company, whether you're an accountant, a network administrator, or even a janitor or CEO, realizing that everybody contributes and everybody is a part of the process is important. Granted, the accountants didn't configure that Cisco router that helps form the backbone of the network, but they made sure the company had the money to buy it. The janitors didn't implement the biometric security system that keeps the company safe from industrial espionage, but they keep the building(s) clean and orderly so the tech people can do their jobs better.

    In the business world, some people do more for a company than others, but everybody does something. Every department contributes in their own way, some with direct physical contributions, others with less direct support contributions. Either way every employee plays a part in a company's success or failure.

    edit: I forgot where I was going with this so here it is:

    It is necessary in any type of company, regardless of size or anything else, to make sure every employee feels like they are important. And as I said earlier, every employee is important. We just have to make sure that they know it.
    Real security doesn't come with an installer.

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    I have never had a job, but I think that your statements hold water. It is definetly a good thing for employees to communicate with one another, and I'm sure it would help decrease the likeliness of the disgruntled employee scenario. So I guess I agree pretty much 100% with you.

    edit
    quick question, referring to this post: http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=250983
    How can you have given out 100% positive if you negged MemorY?

  5. #5
    @ÞΜĮЙǐЅŦГǻţΩЯ D0pp139an93r's Avatar
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    h3r3tic,

    I'm guessing that odds are that when he negged MemorY it didn't count for anything. He's a newbie, so the weight of his AP is still low (not that I'm exactly up there, but whatever). I've negged things without it actually counting for anything.

    When you're a newbie the AP system is screwy. I gave out positive AP 3 times and the system told me to keep my assignments balanced, because I was completely out of balance... 3 friggin AntiPoints...
    Real security doesn't come with an installer.

  6. #6
    Macht Nicht Aus moxnix's Avatar
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    Let me play the devils advocate on this......what if one of the employees doesn't wish to associate with anyone else? They could be a very private person, who just wishes to do their job and be left alone.
    I agree that most people would respond well to overtures of workplace friendship, but how about the ones that don't, or even worse over respond and quickly become a pest. Wouldn't that create even greater disgruntlement later down the road.
    I don't have a solution to this, by the way. I'm just suggesting that any one method might backfire on you.
    \"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Champagne in one hand - strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO HOO - What a Ride!\"
    Author Unknown

  7. #7
    @ÞΜĮЙǐЅŦГǻţΩЯ D0pp139an93r's Avatar
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    Moxnix, you're right, not every employee wants to be in the "club" so to speak. But it is still just as important to make sure they know that the company cares about them and their work. Don't force them to go out after work, but make sure that there's an invitation. Tell people that they did a good job, and let them know that they are contributing.
    Real security doesn't come with an installer.

  8. #8
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    Going with D0pp139an93r's point....

    A good manager gives praise whenever they can. Speaking from personal experience as one of the underlings, and I have been at many jobs, if you have a boss that gives no praise, when you work your ass off for them, then you tend to begin to hate your job, and from there it escalates. On a good point, if you have a manager that gives a lot of praise (not where it isn't deserved mind you), then you tend to enjoy your job. I've had the pleasure of working under great IT management for my short professional career in the field, and have been very lucky.

    I truly believe it is important to also know the members of your team. IT almost has to be a close-knit family in order for it to work efficiently. People holding grudges, slows the communication line, and if you have someone intentionally fouling the communication lines, it makes the entire department look bad.

    One important thing to prevent all this...
    If you happen to be the manager/department head, screen employees at the interview stage. Don't just look at the certs/degrees, look at the personality, see if it fits the karma of your department, and if it doesn't, keep looking for someone who will. It has been my experience that some people can have all the certs/degrees in the world, but just not work out, whether it was because they just were lazy, or didn't fit in the puzzle, its sometimes essential to sacrifice pleasantness for experience.

    Very many people might disagree with this, but in the way I see it, with all the tiers of support IT departments have to go through, communication is easily fouled by a foul employee. Every missed deadline, and every missed call reflects on the whole...1 bad apple can spoil the basket.

    My long 2 cents on the matter
    Creating further mindless stupidity....through mindless automation.

  9. #9
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    I agree everyone should be treated equally & fairly. Sadly, it's been my misfortune to run into the odd person that believes they are not treated fairly. (I HATE office politics)

  10. #10
    @ÞΜĮЙǐЅŦГǻţΩЯ D0pp139an93r's Avatar
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    The funny thing about "office politics" is that minor disagreements will escalate and cause otherwise intelligent, professional people to act like children. It's kinda funny. Well, actually it's REALLY funny.

    (But I wanted the corner office...lol)
    Real security doesn't come with an installer.

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