Cyber-Sabotage: Employee Malfeasance in the Social Media Age

• Author: Melany V Franklin
• Pages: 101-124



CyberSabotage

EMPLOYEEMALFEASANCE

IN T H E SOC I ALM E DI A AG E

Melany V Franklin*

Disgruntledemployeescancome fromanywhere  Howe verthereare

somecommonorfrequentlyobservedpaernsthatmaysignalelevatedvulner

abilityinfuturesituationsForexamplenineoutofofoursubjectswerein

theprocessofdealingwithanextremelyseriousemploymentproblemthathad

endedorthreatenedtheirjobs

Otherindicatorsofvulnerabilitythatmighthaveledtodetectionincluded

theoccurrenceof signicantorganizationwidechanges orstressesas wellas

personalstressors Anothermarkerofriskwas theuniquelevelofsystem

accessandorcontrolobtainedFinallytheseindividualswereconsistently

engagedinsocialorculturalworkplaceconicts

EricDShawLynnFFischer

Thetopicof this papercybersabotagerefersto theuse oftech nology

includingsocia lmediato deliberatelyinicth armona norganization

Thefocusis onthemisuse oftechnologybyemployeesandformerem-

ployeesFor our purposes t he term coversc yberbullying disc losure

 MelanyVFrankli nisapartnerwit hBordenLadnerGervaisLLPTorontopractis-

inglabouremploymentandhuma nrightslawShehastakenparti nmisconduct

investigationsinvolvi ngsocialmediaShei sgratefulfortheres earchassista nceof

JacquelineStrandbe rgandRaquelKaplanGoldberga ndtoSteveKahanskyforh is

insights

 EricDShawLynnFFischerTenTalesofBetrayalTheT hreattoCorporateInfrastruc

turesbyInformationTechnologyInsidersAn alysisandObservationsMonter eyDefense

PersonnelSecu rityResearcha ndEducationCentreat

MVF

ofcondentialin formationdatathef tdatadestructiona ndcybordina-

tionwhichIwoulddeneasinsubordinatesociamed iapostings

InPart Awedemonstratehow legalprinciplesi ntheemployment

contexthave been appliedto addressc ybersabotageIn Part Bwe ex-

ploreprivacyconsiderationsandquestionsoffair nessthatmaybearon

anemployer sinvestigation intoal legations ofcyber sabotage InPartC 

weidentifypracticalstepsthatanemployermaytaketomitigatetherisk

ofharmassociatedwitht hisnewkindofmisconduct

ACYBE R SA B O TAG E I NANE M P L OY M E N T

CONTEXT

Accordingto YogiBerrathe future aintwhatit used tobeInternet

tec hn olog ie shav etran sfo rme dou ri nter act ionsw ith eac hot he rin div id-

uallyandonaglobalscale

Although the rewards associated with t he use of these technolo-

gies are potentially great so are t he risks At an organizationa l level

theInter netis agatewayfor both thegood andt hebadFor wouldbe

whistleblowersitis a megaphoneForthe disgruntled itsasoapbox

ForthievesitsanopportunityForhackersitsachallenge

Thelawhasrespondedtotheseproblemsasitusuallydoesbyap-

plyingtriedandtruelegalprinciplestonovelfactsituationsEventually

theleading caseswil lgiveus aroadmapfor assessingt heseriousness

ofc ybersabotagei na nygiven case and for determining whether the

misconductinquestionwarrantsdismi ssalforjustcause

Butweareintheearlydays

 Sabotage

Employeesabotagehasbeendenedasanintentionalactcalculatedto

damageanindividualassociatedwith thecompanycompanyproperty

corporateassetsorthecorporateentityitself

Cybersabotagelikeany wrongdoingissubjec ttodisciplineSabotage

isconsideredaseriousbreachoftrustI nRedirackLtdLtéevUnitedSteel

workersofAmericaLocal ArbitratorHaeingwrites

 IPerrinWestonSabotageWorkplaceViole ncePreventionAPracticalGuideto

SecurityontheJobNorthVancouverSpec ialtyTechnicalPubl isherstabFch

atonlinewwwstpubt rainingcomimages DocumentsSABOTAGEpdf

 LACdHaeing