Stupid Is a Powerful Thing 0
Trading in secrets:
Unlike most such cases, however, officials with Atlantic Marine Construction Company aren’t arguing the employee stole their proposal sheets and other records before he was fired. Rather, the company claims Christopher McGrath, formerly of Virginia Beach, stole them after he was terminated via a widely available computer program he secretly installed on a work computer.
The nefarious software that McGrath used to steal these “trade secrets” was a fairly straightforward VNC program called Google Chrome Remote Desktop.
My friend uses VNC software to work from home almost every day. I use X11vnc myself to connect to my server remotely, because Klaatu recommends X11vnc.
As someone quoted later in the story points out, McGrath’s employer was too stupid to wipe his computer or, at the least, disconnect it from the company’s network or maybe even just turn it off. (The person in the story was a bit more tactful.)
Having worked in corporate America, I can attest that stupid is a powerful force in organizational dynamics.
Afterthought:
How secret are these “trade secrets”? How many secrets can a “construction company” have? Do they give away the con? Inquiring minds want to know.
Afterthought X2:
Computers are a tool. They are not magickal mystickal boxes of binary voodoo. As with any other tool, from a hammer to a circular saw to a CNC machine, if you want to use them, learn how to use them safely. If you don’t care to learn how to use them safely, don’t blame others when things go wrong.
