Terry Childs is a good example of the too much power in one spot or the hit by a bus scenario. However, he is getting railroaded, $5 mil bail for not giving up passwords and having remote access, please. 90% of what he is charged with is standard network engineering, remote access modems for disaster and testing purposes. At most a firing situation for insubordination.

On the prevent them from going back to their desk thing, I guess it would be trespassing versus theft. Can you really prevent someone from retrieving their personal property? With tech types, which piece of equipment belongs to the company and which is theirs?
An all around sucky situation that will get worse before it gets better.

I don’t understand how companies can be so ignorant and protect their most critical data with outdated passwords. It is obviously a great idea to remove the user profile of a fired employee as quickly as possible. But don’t you think that this frustrated employee already has a backup plan? Most fraudsters don’t use their own user profile anyway and with 20 ways to get any coworkers password at any point of time you can be sure that any disgruntled employee will find a way to get access to his former companies system, if he/she wants to create damages! While most cases never get reported there are enough stories available in the Internet.

In the good old days at least companies had the advantage of physical security. The former employee would have to make it into the building before causing damages. Now – in the name of globalization and web access – he can do it from the comfort of his home or an Internet Cafe.
Companies need to wake up and understand how dangerous passwords are! They should also check into biometrics to secure their most critical data or processes. Once the company removes the biometric template of a fired employee there is no way to get access.

This is why I recommend every company to SHOW PASSWORDS THE FINGER (using biometrics of course ;-)

Check out some educational info at www.showpasswordsthefinger.com

Respectfully,

Thomas N
Realtime North America Inc.

This is scary but very true; companies should notifiy the I.T. Department prior lay-offs to prevent any deletion of important information from those computers and block access remotely. A Security and/or Loss Prevention staff member needs to escort that person directly to their desk from the H.R. Department office and only personal items to be taken from that area. That employee must be informed that their computer has been shut down by I.T. Department and any information inside computer belongs to the company and is under review.The Security and/or Loss Prevention staff helps carry boxes and/or items to their car, making sure that they leave the facility grounds immediately. A updated memo to Security Department or Loss Prevention Department of names of employees laid off should be posted in Security or LP access office. All company keys, I.D. Badges, Kronos cards, cell phones, company credit cards and laptops should be picked up immediately and inventoried.I will stop here......too much comments to place in such a short time!

Jerry Saucedo-Manager
CHSIII, CHWT, FSO & CRC
Safety, Security and Loss Prevention