Contractor found he was fired by algorithm

[Kasey Chang]

TL;DR version: He was eight months into a 3 year contract when he got a computer notice that he was terminated, then his recruiter got email that he was terminated (there was no actual notice of termination), nobody can find the person who ordered the termination, including his boss, and his boss's boss. Then all the security checkpoints, including parking, stopped accepting his ID. Then his logins all stopped working. Then security got a note to escort him out of the building. He was being erased bit by bit, but who, how, and why?

Spoiler:

Turns out his ex-manager, the guy who originally hired him, was being transitioned to another job, and that guy apparently has a software deadman's switch that's a part of his job. He didn't toggle it (because it's no longer his job), that meant he didn't "renew" the contractor's contract (somehow it wasn't transitioned to the guy who took over his job), and that triggered the cascade security policy.

https://boingboing.net/2018/06/20/the-c ... -dead.html

[Cylus Maxii]

Sounds like a fantastic security implementation. I wonder if it was a job that required security clearances and such.

[DD*]

Sounds like a fantastic security implementation. I wonder if it was a job that required security clearances and such.

We are doing something similar. Lots of contractors working on custom code, it helps our security folks sleep better at night if there is a positive action required to keep access open.

[GreenGoo]

For the record I didn't see anything immediately wrong with the original story. I'm not a proponent of automated systems like that, but neither do I think they are any more or less of a problem than one that relies solely on human interaction.

[gameoverman]

I agree, from what I read it sounds like the former manager passively/aggressively sabotaged the system. He didn't delete anything or steal anything, he just quietly did nothing in a position where he had at least one thing still to do. Meanwhile, whoever replaced him failed to pick up the slack. The system itself sounds like it works perfectly.

Moral- humans will always fark things up

[Jeff V]

I kind of wish that happened to me once. Contract job, dude that hired me got fired by noon the day I started. I then had an awkward month until someone realized I wss serving no purpose.