Programmer Fired After Being Caught Outsourcing His Job

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It's a story that's almost too clever to be believed, a computer programmer was recently fired from his job after his employer found that he had been outsourcing his job to a coder in China.

 

According to Verizon Business, one of their clients contacted them to investigate what appeared to be a security breach. The client, which handles programming for critical U.S. infrastructure, had put in a VPN network a few years back in order to allow some of their employees to telecommute a few days a week. They put in place several security measures to ensure that only authorized users were able to have access to the network, including an RSA token key fob. A few month ago, during a security update, network administrators realized that the network had been regularly accessed by an IP address in China. Although their logs only go back about six months, it showed almost daily access using the credentials of one of their best coders, identified only by the pseudonym “Bob.”

 

When the unauthorized access was brought to the attention of management, they believed that it had be part of a larger hacking operation. After all, Bob was working diligently at his desk and was clearly not in China. Unable to solve the problem, the company contacted their ISP, Verizon Business, to look into the matter.

 

What they found was that the unassuming, quiet Bob had outsourced his work to someone in China. In order to get around the network security requirements, Bob had simply FedExed his RSA token to China and instead of doing the coding himself, he spent his workday watching cat videos and updating his Facebook status. In return for doing the work, Bob paid the person in China about one-fifth of his salary.

 

It was a clever scheme and in different circumstances, Bob would have been lauded as an innovator and been promptly moved up to management. However, his employer wasn't impressed with his actions and promptly fired him. By the time the investigation was complete, it was revealed that Bob had been using this same ploy with other companies and had been bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars annually and paying his China connection about $50,000.

 

What makes this story even worse is that, according to Verizon, Bob had received excellent reviews over the past few years. In fact, he was often recognized for his extremely clean and on-time coding and was considered one of the best programmers they had on staff.

 

It made me wonder – what's the difference between perpetrating a fraud like this and simply sub-contracting work?

 

Do you think that Bob deserved to be fired? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

 

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  • Melissa Kennedy
    Melissa Kennedy •
    Thanks for all of the great comments. I think the security breach is the biggest thing he did wrong. If it wasn't for that, he would be an effective project manager. Getting the best results for the least amount of effort is what most managers strive for. It's such an interesting case because it raises so many questions about sub contracting and outsourcing.
  • Griffin P
    Griffin P •
    What he was doing was a major breach in the company's company and illegal. What he was doing was very dishonest and a waste of a company's time and could have harmed the company. Yes, he deserved to be fired. He's a thief.
  • Thomas L
    Thomas L •
    Cool
  • Richard S
    Richard S •
    China is known for flagrant theft of intellectual property, but here this Employee gave the Coder access to the network!  Who knows what this Chinese Citizen was able to glean.  The US Employee also signed a Computer and data Use and abuse document for protection of Corporate data and access.I am surprised this Employee didn't get prison time since it was stated that it was associated witha : "Critical US infrastructure".
  • Jim G
    Jim G •
    Clever way for 2 entities to get paid from one source.  When large corporations outsource their jobs it's considered doing business.  Bob found a loophole which produced satisfactory reviews.There is only 1 draw back to this plan.  Security protocols have been over subjected to an override.  The programmer in China was not hacking but what if a hacker had gotten the job?  How much damage would have been done?Bob was smart in what he did but naive when it comes to security.  For thinking outside the box, he deserves a raise and a promotion.  For opening a huge breach in security, he deserves to be reprimanded and possibly fired.
  • Robert K
    Robert K •
    He was not doing the work, he was watching videos & facebooking on company time, plus sent an RSA Token to China so a person there could do the work for peanuts. This is what is essentailly wrong with the current job market.Not only should he be fired, he should never be allowed to be hired in IT ever again.
  • Laura S
    Laura S •
    Isn't it the job of IT to be the smartest person in the room, well he was in many situations.
  • Winston K
    Winston K •
    This is a tough one He violated company policy by giving access to a person who was not authorized. Does that raise to the level to be fired? I don't know.
  • Bill R
    Bill R •
    Clever?  eh.  I'm sure many others thought and considered this.  But actually doing it - gutsy?  Yes, for obvious reasons.  Stupid?  Also yes, for obvious reasons.  Asking if he deserved to be fired is frankly a rather ridiculous question, given the obvious answer.

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