Perks & Paintball For Employees At Cybercrime, Inc.

Barence writes "Innovative Marketing Ukraine was in the business of churning out some of the world's most pernicious, and profitable, computer viruses. As the company grew, it added a human resources department, hired an internal IT staff and built a call center to dissuade its victims from seeking credit card refunds. Employees were treated to catered holiday parties and picnics with paintball competitions. Top performers got bonuses as young workers turned a blind eye to the harm the software was doing. 'When you are just 20, you don't think a lot about ethics,' said one former Innovative Marketing programmer. 'I had a good salary and I know that most employees also had pretty good salaries.' The firm has been closed down after the US Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit seeking its disbandment in the federal court. But an examination of the FTC's complaint and documents from a legal dispute among Innovative executives offers a rare glimpse into a dark, expanding — and highly profitable — corner of the internet."

Comments

Re:Ethics

[TheRaven64]

Given the number of student protest organisations relative to other age groups, I'd have assumed that 20 was when most people thought about ethics. And what happens to the money that these scum made?

Ethics

[Andy Smith]

"When you are just 20, you don't think a lot about ethics"

Really? I did.

What I suspect this person really means is: He was fully aware that what he was doing was unethical, but he liked the money. Saying that that he "didn't think" about the ethics is an attempt to excuse his behaviour.

Re:Corporations are neither evil or good

[krou]

Please tell me, does your reasoning extend to individuals i.e. if I am amoral, then you have no right to call me either good or evil when I decide to go and rob your house?

?Ethics?

[minstrelmike]

The difference in ethics by working at some big company paying you to sell over-priced home loans that eventually collapse the global economy is what?

Re:Ethics

[alc6379]

We are talking the Ukraine here. Let's not automatically superimpose American sensibilities on someone that comes from a drastically different culture and lifestyle.

Let's have a little charity for someone who hasn't grown up as extravagantly privileged as us.

I've never understood this rationale. How is theft in the Ukraine any different from theft anywhere else? I'm sure many people make an honest living there, just like every other country. You can't put a "cultural" spin on fraud or theft.