Cisco VP To Memo Leaker: Finding You Now 'My Hobby'

netbuzz writes "A Cisco vice president, who happens to have been a CIA operations officer in the 1980s, believes that the employee who recently leaked an internal company memo to a blogger committed corporate treason and violated a 'family' trust. In an email sent to Cisco employees, the executive invites the anonymous leaker to come clean, concedes that's unlikely, and adds, 'so I will now make (finding) you my hobby. Ask around (and) you will find out that I like to work on my hobbies.' That email got leaked and published as well. The tempest was sparked by a series of stories in Network World examining a host of bidding and contract questions involving the California higher education system."

Comments

Dead giveaway

[Anonymous Coward]

The email is a dead giveaway that they dont have shit on the person who leaked it. If I were the person that leaked it, I would be rejoicing right now.

Re:Dead giveaway

[Midnight_Falcon]

The AC is right..he sent out this e-mail, and now is waiting for the potentially paranoid person to start making mistakes, acting nervous, or otherwise creating suspicion on themselves by trying to move suspicion away from themselves.

He also sent out the email to discourage any other Cisco employees from potentially engaging in leaking as well. Or, to stop the current leaker from leaking by injecting paranoia.
Had they any leads or information, this step would not have been necessary. The other employees would have been discouraged from leaking by the fact the leaker was busted, exposed, and their career ruined.

Re:Dead giveaway

[Jeng]

True he might not have anything on him at the time that he sent the email, but he may have something now.

If fat face is smart he sent a slightly different email to each department to narrow down his list of suspects.

Re:Dead giveaway

[Anonymous Coward]

It is entirely possible to cut the mail content and paste it somewhere (usb key if they have access, non-company encrypted mail service, ...).

The leaker did not had to send it through company mail.

Not impressed.

[Animats]

If this guy had really been a good CIA ops officer, he would have said nothing until he knew who the leaker was.

How about

[geekoid]

Cisco firing and downsizing whenever they see fit? how does that fit into your dumbass view of:

"committed corporate treason and violated a 'family' trust. "?

Also, look up treason.

Re:How about

[s73v3r]

Agreed. Anyone who tries to say that a company is like a "family" is an asshat trying to get free labor out of his subordinates.

Cisco needs to keep their VPs on shorter leashes

[WaffleMonster]

Kind of creepy to hear of "ex" CIA officers in top Cisco positions... advertising this must do wonders for foreign (and domestic) sales...

And ah... continually beating wardrums about an issue which only *reminds* customers of cost issues with Cisco products and services is no winning proposition for Cisco either.

Who does this asshole think he is?

[erp_consultant]

Typical corporate jackass. Trying to throw around his (considerable) weight with veiled threats. Yeah, donut boy, I'm sure the memo leaker is just quivering in his boots right about now. If you were a Cisco employee what would you be thinking right about now? I know what I'd be thinking. I'd be thinking I'm not going to work for an idiot like that. Maybe donut boy still thinks he's in the CIA. Maybe he gets off on stupid little power trips. Maybe his wife treats him like shit and the only way he can get back is to take it out on the people he works with. Maybe he's just a fucking loser.

Re:Who does this asshole think he is?

[Anonymous Coward]

Mike Quinn is perhaps one of the best customer focused executives at Cisco. Not only is he well known and well cared for by hundreds ( if not thousands) of customers that have crossed his paths over the years, but Mike is also very well cared for by the legion of "old culture" Cisco people still in the company. He has some of the brightest people reporting to him and works insane hours even while his health is very poor.

So you all know, he was injured during the Beirut marine barack bombing attacks (many years back) and has had bad health issues all his life ( even recently when he organ transplant from family members ). The medicines that keep him alive have caused him to gain much weight that he has had to work really hard to keep in check.

While I can see why all people feel about reading that email, the reality is that the person that originally leaked this, took a internal private email to employees that where asking what the issue was with the Univerisity of California deal and verbatim passed it externally. Something that is against business conduct and against the values of the company.

If the person disliked Cisco this much, then probably should pack the bags and find employment at another location. Not use internal communications as some sort of vindictive way to get back to "who knows who". Mike is very passionate about Cisco and it's people. He has worked for over 20 years building the company and it's support organization. For those that have worked under him, they only know a person that has high integrity standards and expect the best of everyone that reports to him and even people outside of his realm of control. When he see's people that are acting this way, he takes that same passion and targets it to get rid of the person that seems to hate employment at Cisco so much. Simple as that.

I know this post is probably going to trigger an avalanche of hate. But this is slashdot and reality is elusive at best. If you had the chance to report under Mike, I think most of you would be sincerly impressed with the person that would listen to your opinion, discuss and find merit in what you are saying and more. When I had the small chance to report under him once, and my son was born premature he was the first person from Cisco to call me directly and talk to me. And I was many layers below him.

Loyalty is not a one-way street

[Anonymous Coward]

And perhaps some day companies will learn that. http://www.inquisitr.com/283632/cisco-firing-1300-employees-2-of-global-workforce/

Re:Assuming said leaker no longer works for Cisco.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Given that wacky incident where Cisco instigated the arrest (in Canada) of a former executive who had the temerity to testify against them in an antitrust case, I'd bet that they have some nontrivial pull, and certainly don't seem to be afraid of using it.

Family? Cisco? EABOD.

[Anonymous Coward]

They are a publicly traded corporation there is no "family" and headcount will be chopped (as in the past) whenever management thinks it will benefit the stock price.

The French lesson

[dbIII]

When the torturers come home, feeling bigger than God after torturing Priests, Doctors and other authority figures, they may decide they are the correct people to run the place and put their other military or paramilitary skills to use to remove whoever they see as in their way. The French had that problem with people from their equivalent of the CIA that came back from Algeria and it culminated with an assassination attempt on the French President.
That is of course the extreme, but the "bigger than God" attitude can come through to a lesser extent to even those remote from extreme extralegal actions, which is why we get this idiot at Cisco pretending to be a gangster.

Re:American executives vs Europeans

[Jaysyn]

Europe puts their sociopaths in hospitals. The USA puts them in boardrooms..

Re:that constitutes harassment and threatening beh

[54mc]

I want to preface by saying that I absolutely agree that this is harassment and threatening behaviour.

However, I can say with certaintly that HR does not care one single bit. HR really couldn't care either way on most issues. They do their job. That job is to protect the company and its higher ups.

If a low level employee sent this, then yes, absolutely, they'd be terminated.

Now, when a low level employee brings these concerns to HR, they'll be informed that it is not in fact threatening, but rather a reminder of company policies regardling leaks and an assurance from the VP that he personally takes those policies very seriously. Then she'll offer some candy from the bowl on her desk and ask you if you've remembered to signup for this weekend's company picnic.

Re:Jimmies Rustled

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

You will find that there are quite a lot of overpaid juveniles running major public companies these days. This is what happens when you promote employees for qualities other than actually doing their jobs well.

Re:Jimmies Rustled

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm amused at the CIA guy going on about "family trust" .. the CIA makes its living off people who break trust, every day. Sometimes literally the trust of family. Unless Cisco is unlike many other corporations, there's no real trust, family or other wise. If corporations want to be free to fire people, they should expect that employees will happily sell the company out if the right offer comes along. Its the flip side of the mercenary behavior corporations engage in. If they would rather have some employee loyalty, then they need to earn it. And repay the loyalty of employees with loyalty TO employees. Loyalty is expensive. Sometimes in cash money terms, but quite frequently in forgone options.

Re:Better hobbies.

[Dahamma]

"But what I do have is a very particular set of silverware; silverware I have acquired over a very long meal. Silverware that makes me drool over people like you. If you tell me who you are now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will eat you."

Re:Assuming said leaker no longer works for Cisco.

[sir-gold]

So you have a secret blacklist, that is never verified, and never open for appeal? is that even legal?

As far as not hiring people who have been arrested, do you have any idea how easy it it to be arrested? one of my friends was put in handcuffs and thrown the the back of a police car, for nothing more serious than crossing the street when it said "don't walk"

If I knew your name and address, I could have you arrested right this minute. The arrest wouldn't stick, and I would be charged with filing a false report (if they caught me) but it would still show up as arrest for your on that precious blacklist, and you would be out of a job.