Firewall Wizards mailing list archives
Re: Highlighting Security Issues
From: Victor Williams <vbwilliams () neb rr com>
Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2004 16:01:09 -0500
I'm not defending the manager's actions (if he's indeed guilty). But it seems everyone I've had discussions with about this seems to think that the gospel truth is that this manager WAS playing Solitaire.
Myself, I find it more difficult to believe the employee than the manager in this case. I cannot help but question the motive, intelligence, and ability of someone who resorts to loading a trojan or piece of malware--IF this is what happened--for the express intent of getting someone else in trouble. If his concern was with the waste in the whole organization, why didn't he log EVERYTHING on EVERY workstation that he had access to administratively (which I'm going to assume was the whole office)? Why did he just go for this guy?
In addition, who says he didn't load the trojan on his own PC and take screenshots of him opening someone else's mailbox? An Administrator has access to EVERYONE's documents and records at every level. So, why did he blow the whistle on this ONE person?
Sounds like a personal vendetta to me.The only things that have been proven in this case beyond the shadow of a doubt for me (and I'm only speaking for me) is:
1. A trojan was loaded; the ex-employee admitted it. 2. His intention was to blow the whistle on ONE person.3. He has too much time on his hands to write non-specific and ambiguous emails to people vs just telling someone up the food chain that abuses are going on and they need to know about them. 4. He's not a very good administrator seeing all the peripheral things that were wrong with this technology-wise.
That's my conclusion. I cannot conclude that the manager was playing Solitaire or was wasting gov't tax dollars. IF he was, he should be removed IN ADDITION to this employee. But that has yet to be proven.
From a technology point of view, there were so many things wrong with this scenario, we could go on for days...literally. Where do we start?
I'll start by asking how many on this list leave the games loaded on a new workstation when they hand it to a new user? In addition, do you give that new user administrator rights to the machine? How many directories do you give write access to on the local machine?
Those are just three things that would be wrong with this scenario without even going any deeper than the surface.
firewalladmin () bellsouth net wrote:
'Scuze me, but whether or not the systems admin guy was a loser or not is just the side note here in my opinion, and it seems to me you are defending a manager who doesn't deserve a defence, nor is what he has been doing over the last 7 months acceptable just because it was pointed out in a wrongful manner. It is stuff like this that - if I may use an outrageous example to help make a point in a much smaller matter - let's the murderer go free because he wasn't read his miranda rights before he confessed to the crime he was caught red-handed doing.If this discussion is about ethical and professional systems administration, okay fire the dork who loaded the trojan. If it is about ethical work habits in the government, then the idiot who plays solitaire and checks his stocks on-line all day at taxpayer expence (and I would guess this guy makes 60-90k per year) needs to lose his job too. Don't defend one criminal just because he was ratted out by another criminal. Either both are wrong or neither are wrong. To sypathize with either individual is understandable in this case depending on which side of the fence you have been on in the past, but to defend either position seems a little ridiculous. From: Victor Williams <vbwilliams () neb rr com> Date: 2004/08/01 Sun PM 10:20:46 EDT To: "Paul D. Robertson" <paul () compuwar net> CC: firewall-wizards () honor icsalabs com Subject: Re: [fw-wiz] Highlighting Security Issues
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Current thread:
- Highlighting Security Issues Paul D. Robertson (Aug 01)
- Re: Highlighting Security Issues Victor Williams (Aug 01)
- Re: Highlighting Security Issues Victor Williams (Aug 01)
- Re: Highlighting Security Issues Paul D. Robertson (Aug 01)
- Re: Highlighting Security Issues Victor Williams (Aug 02)
- Re: Highlighting Security Issues Paul D. Robertson (Aug 02)
- Re: Highlighting Security Issues Victor Williams (Aug 02)
- Re: Highlighting Security Issues Victor Williams (Aug 01)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: Re: Highlighting Security Issues firewalladmin (Aug 06)
- Re: Highlighting Security Issues Victor Williams (Aug 06)
- Re: Re: Highlighting Security Issues Dave Piscitello (Aug 06)
- Re: Re: Highlighting Security Issues firewalladmin (Aug 06)
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- Re: Re: Highlighting Security Issues Marcus J. Ranum (Aug 06)
- Re: Re: Highlighting Security Issues Christopher Hicks (Aug 12)
- Re: Re: Highlighting Security Issues Adam Shostack (Aug 12)
- Re: Re: Highlighting Security Issues ArkanoiD (Aug 25)
- Re: Re: Highlighting Security Issues Matt Dunn (Aug 12)
- Low Carb Security Dave Piscitello (Aug 12)
- Message not available
- Message not available
- Re: Re: Highlighting Security Issues Marcus J. Ranum (Aug 06)