Viruses: The New Weapon of Choice for Workplace Violence Offenders

Computerworld - During the dot-com heyday, an employee downloading a virus onto a company's network was almost always assumed to be acting unaware of any danger. However, in today's era of increased outsourcing, corporate downsizing, salary reductions and failed pension-plan promises, company networks are increasingly being attacked by disgruntled employees. In this hostile environment, searching for the source of sabotage should start inside.
A recent study sponsored by Risk Control Strategies, a threat management and risk assessment firm, found that an overwhelming majority of 223 security and human resources executives who manage between 500 and 900 employees said workplace violence is a bigger problem now than it was two years ago. As a result, 23% said employees have intentionally and maliciously downloaded viruses over the past 12 months. The study found that hitting employees in the pocketbook is prompting the burgeoning retaliation.
A recent study of IT outsourcing trends sponsored by DiamondCluster International Inc., a business and technology consulting firm, supports this conclusion, stating that 88% of outsourcers cited employee backlash as their primary concern. Cognizant of buyers' unease, outsourcing providers limit their on-site presence to keep the "face of outsourcing" out of sight from employees, according to the study.
Viruses used as a weapon against senior management is a people problem that can't be solved solely through technological means. For IT security managers, internal investigations will require a whole new set of workplace violence-prevention skills and unprecedented coordination with HR executives.
1) Employ Creative Background Checks
Verified Person Inc., a background-check company co-founded by John Sculley, former CEO of Apple Computer Inc. and Pepsi, has found through its ongoing employee-screening system that willful destruction of property is among the numerous types of criminal offenses that surface posthire. The company believes that these cases can go undetected because they tend to languish in the courts or because financial and/or family pressures facing the employee can ignite changes in behavior that can prompt an individual with a clean record to commit a crime. IT managers should coordinate with HR managers to implement an ongoing screening system. Background checks aren't just for pre-employment anymore.
2) Pinpoint Potential Perpetrators
Workplace violence is almost never spontaneous and, therefore, is foreseeable and preventable. Historical research shows that there are a number of consistent characteristics associated with a perpetrator: predominantly males, between 25 and 40, who don't handle stress well and are manipulative, chronic complainers, among many other traits. However, since a large number of people who pose no threat at all could meet some of