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Man Charged With Stealing Code From Federal Reserve Bank
wiredmikey writes "A Chinese computer programmer was arrested by U.S. authorities in New York on Wednesday, on charges that he stole proprietary source code while working on a project at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The man arrested, Bo Zhang of New York, worked as a contract employee developing a specific portion of the GWA's (Government-Wide Accounting and Reporting Program) source code at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York where the code is maintained. The complaint alleges that in the summer of 2011, Zhang stole the GWA code, something he admitted to in July 2011. Zhang said that he used the GWA Code in connection with a private business he ran training individuals in computer programming."
Don't steal from the government - it hates the competition
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Every government IT job like this I've ever seen has US citizenship required, not even green card required. How did this guy get in?
I work in a place that makes you sign an NDA. Betcha he had to sign one too. Whether blueprints or code, industrial espionage is a real crime, both morally and legally.
1. this has nothing to do with China 2. USA is just as bad as China when it comes to covert internet access, just that China doesn't run around complaining like a little girl when it happens.
FTA: "he used the GWA Code in connection with a private business he ran training individuals in computer programming" Training individuals who are interested in the Fed's software? Now who (cough) would be interested in that?
Zhang said that he used the GWA Code in connection with a private business he ran training individuals in computer programming.
Correctly edited version: Zhang said that he used the GWA Code in connection with a private business he ran training Chinese Hackers in Reserve Bank Code.
Silence is a state of mime.
Is it a wonder that there is a growing contempt for China and its actions?
I believe we've gone way past the "three times is enemy action" for incidents like these.
Sensationalism by the author, playing to the xenophobic among the indigenous readership. It should have been 'Programmer Steals Code ..' Not 'Chinese Programmer Steals Code ...'
Now, if he were an agent of the PRC, a point of nationality would be highly relevant, but in this case it does not serve fair news reporting.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
“Government-Wide Accounting and Reporting Program” (GWA), a software system owned by the Department of the Treasury that is used mainly to manage central accounting and reporting functions and processes associated with budget execution, accountability, and asset management.
Just sounds like some average bloated corporate code that was stolen. Nothing noteworthy.
2. USA is just as bad as China when it comes to covert internet access, just that China doesn't run around complaining like a little girl when it happens.
I can't decide if this is misogynist, bully-ist, antidemocratic, or just silly.
Your other point is good, though. It's a guy teaching. I don't have any problem with him using the code, he just should have asked permission and they should have been willing to give it to him. Problem is they see it as something it's worth making an example over--possibly destroying his life because he didn't see a problem with using a snippet of code that, in all likelihood, it was not a problem to use.
-- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
There is an unemployed American programmer begging for minimum wage temporary night shift job, and eating spaghetti for the 4th night in a row, meanwhile these shits are hiring Chinese contractors
God bless America!
Seems every other day we're hearing about some chinese scientist or programmer that steals US proprietary secrets of some kind. Why does this keep happening? I thought the whole point of a background check was to avoid this sort of thing. Review where you f'ed up in the background check. See what you knew at the start that should have been a red flag and then add it to the disqualified list. If you were fooled at that point or didn't get enough information then see to it that you're harder to fool and gather more information. This is just sad.
Do your damn background checks.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
I have more contempt for the fuck that hired a Chinese contractor to work on government systems while people are begging for jobs here
Did he steal the code and dance out of the place?
Is it a wonder that there is a growing contempt for China and its actions?
If all it takes is for one citizen to copy a bit of code for you to hold his country in contempt, then you must really hate America after all those people lost billions of dollars in the Enron scandal. Of course, I chose the Enron example at random, but there are probably thousands of criminal acts occurring across the country every day. If you are going to just single out the ones committed by people of Chinese decent then think that says more about you than China.
America is LOADED with Chinese spies. China is in a cold war with the west, and the west is disregarding it. Sad.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Holy f#ck people are racist on here.
The dude was using some code he wrote to train people. Can we assume guilt of something *after guilt has been proven*? Pretty please?
The same Goldman Sachs and BOA that were cracked after he worked there?
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
soooooo yeah.
if you would read Henry Paulson's "On the Brink" he specifically talks about how the Russian government tried to do EXACTLY this in 2008 with the help of the Chinese government. But the Chinese government told the Russians to fuck off and die in a fire. Why ?Partly because Henry Paulson had been the CEO of Goldman Sachs and heavily involved in China for the past several years, . . . his book mentions far more discussions with Chinese leaders during the crash of 2008 than he mentions people like Dick Cheney or even George Bush.
none of this has anything to do with 'hackers' or 'source code'.
then USA has a very serious problem on their hands.
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
I might suggest you read my comment history, if you think I'm in middle school, my friend.
I didn't suggest that you *work* for the Geek Squad. I suggested that anyone hungry and with half a clue could steal the Geek Squad's lunch.
More seriously, I get these sort of "jobs" from friends all the time. My bartender approached me last night, and said he took his virus-crashed laptop to Best Buy and they quoted him $400 to move the files off and to his new Mac. He told me he'd give me $200 to do the job-- adding that he had certain files with his wife that were, shall we say, "private" in nature and he didn't trust Best Buy to deal with.
That kind of work is everywhere. If the Geek Squad is charging $100/hr to do very basic tech (setting up DVRs, etc) then you can undercut that-- and provide a professional relationship. It's not work I really want-- but how you beat the big corporate guys, is by providing a better price point, and a better service. Get a $700 suit for $300 on OverStock, treat your customers well, communicate with them in standard written English, establish trust and security. Kiss their rumps if you have to, if you're eating Ramen.
In the end, I don't mean to insult you if your situation is hard. But I'm not going to accept BS, either. If you're not in the sticks where there's no market-- if you are somewhere where there's Best Buy and Comp USA-- then surely, you can still find people with money, who will pay Best Buy if they have no other choice, and take that business. And provide a better value.
As far as this guy-- c'mon. Your proposition is silly. The US Federal government is a damn Dilbert mess, sure, but if they could hire a US-native programmer for the same price (don't assume this guy is a low-ball salary) or even 50% more, they'd probably do so. The talent isn't there.
Of course, that's also a failure of the US Educational system. I'm probably more pissed than you about that, and I understand that the US isn't providing as much educational investment and opportunity for young people, as, for instance, China. But the young in the US also have an enormous sense of entitlement, of wishing and thinking they should get something for nothing.
I worked hard in College and grad school. I put in the 80+ hour weeks, and I still do. I've lived in CA-- if you can't downsize enough to live on $45K in the Mission, or Berkeley (or the burbs), c'mon, $45K is still a lot of money. I've made 100x that in a year, and I've lived on a quarter of that in other years. Adjust to your means and make the best of it-- if you can't pull in $45K, then don't try to live a $45K lifesytle.
but is nothing close to the millions you can steal on Wall Street.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.