Defusing the Threat of Disgruntled IT Workers

snydeq writes "According to computer forensics expert witness Keith Jones, for every logic bomb on the network or Terry Childs case that makes it into the press, there are 98 other incidents of disgruntled IT pros damaging company assets that you never hear about. And though most IT workers are too professional to take out their grievances on the systems they've worked so hard to maintain, unless management takes note of the growing discontent in the IT workplace, it may fall victim to the unspoken 'ticking time bomb' lurking within its call for IT to do more with less, InfoWorld reports. Drastically understaffed, battered by interminable hours and impossible demands, many IT folks are being pushed to the brink by management that neither trusts nor supports them."

Comments

Re:Pussies

[Eternauta3k]

Shh. This is meant to scare management into cutting them some slack

Here's how we fixed it...

[Anonymous Coward]

We hired three times as many people, and only 1/3 is ever really working in IT. The other 2/3 work in a mysterious shadow IT whose work is never actually used or relied on. No one knows which group they're in, but they also know their work probably doesn't matter, so it keeps them on their toes.

Re:Try not being a dick to your employees

[cashman73]

I'd like to know about the working conditions at the places were someone went haywire,...

I'd love to tell you, but unfortunately that place was set on fire by a disgruntled IT worker with a red stapler, and the printer was busted before they could print anything out,...

Re:Pussies

[Sponge Bath]

...if you freak out and do stupid shit, it's cause you're weak

You don't happen to have pointy hair do you?

I left a ticking code bomb

[HangingChad]

I left a ticking code bomb on my last job, here's how it happened:

Me: The rest of today I thought we'd go over the end of year maintenance and reports, they're a little involved.

My replacement: I think I got it.

Me: You sure? It's pretty complicated. Two hours really isn't enough of a hand off for an app this complicated.

My replacement: I'm good. I've got to take my kid to the doctor this afternoon (turns to leave).

Me: Okay then.

End of FY ends in about two weeks. Guess they'll find out how ready he really was.

Re:I left a ticking code bomb

[Anonymous Coward]

We were contracted to a small company to provide all IT support. Several years later, our contract was terminated. The replacement was a salaried employee for the company. By the company's decision, we were not allowed to tell him what he should do. We could only answer questions. (They wanted a "clean" separation from past procedures.) He never asked the right questions.

Re:I left a ticking code bomb

[morgan_greywolf]

Dude! You never told me the FY ends in two weeks! Damn. I could've had my wife pick up the kid! Tell me what to do!!!!

Leave something funny - not code bombs

[operand]

I knew a former employee that left a piece of code in an app that when a user entered a certain search string, it would give Chuck Norris facts. Leave your employer laughing, not disgruntled.

Re:Firing someone? Let them get unemployment

[RoboRay]

Yeah, I keep getting fired all the time, too, and it's never my fault. Something's horribly wrong with the world, but I'm golden.

Re:What would an MBA do?

[Todd Fisher]

At my former company one of the clueless head managers pulled all the developers into a conference and gave us the same "mandatory 60 hour weeks are now required" speech. One of the senior developers said "Only 60 hours? That's great!"

Re:Pussies

[h4rm0ny]

I've occasionally remarked that the nice thing about UNIX systems, in comparison to Windows ones, is that when I tell my UNIX box to do something it doesn't bother me with questions, it just does what I tell it to. The downside to this is that when I tell my UNIX box to do something, it doesn't bother me with questions, it just does what I tell it to do.