Chances?

He doesn't sound like a guy that would do the nasty thing that they say he did. If that place had such a banging IT dept. Then why was the SMS configured/mismanaged?

My machines that I am responsible for (1.5k+) are in WSUS and SMS, if they ever stop reporting I'll have the problem fixed in less than 24 hours.

As far as I'm concerned the IT department is at fault for not verifying that his computer was up-to date. What a bunch of Wanna-Be's.

--Associate Engineer
--Comp/Hardware Tech III

Sounds to me like this guy was railroaded fro mthe very start. So much for innocent until proven guilty. Society as a whole has become a big joke.

JT
http://www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com

If I were him, I'd sue that company into the ground. He lost his friends, his job, his reputation, and a year and a half. He deserves a little cash.

Who set up his computer? Who is responsible for the SUS server in that company? Why weren't they performing regular audits on company computers? Why wasn't the company in compliance with the provisions of their licensing agreements? (all subscription software companies require some form of auditing SLA to maintain compliancy. I think that there is a bigger picture here than just one person being accused of downloading porn! I think the company was using this as a way of hiding the fact that the company was in direct violation of the policies that police their software use! This should have more investigation of the company.
Ed

Unfortunately, this situation is what happens in companies and organizations that do not have dedicated and trained computer security personnel. This could have been avoided by a proper forensic look at the computer in question and by giving the employee the benefit of the doubt.

I, as a network engineer, have found inappropriate material on employee computers when examining why our bandwidth usage was higher than normal. The computer information is usually turned over to the Helpdesk who proceed to check the AV software, to make sure it is up to date, and then check for viruses.

If viruses are found, the employee receives a warning but is given the benefit of doubt. If none are found and it looks deliberate, it proceeds into the HR arena. A computer security professional is appraised of the situation and consulted throughout the process.

If it is a first offense, I believe that the employee is warned and reminded of the computer policies. They are let go if it happens again.

I believe that this is a fair way of handling such a situation.

David

seems like he was totally innocent, there are malicious softwares present everywhere we go on the web. Need an antivirus with the latest definition to catch these programs the moment they start eye-balling. Its just another case of a computer being attacked when its in an insecure state even if it was secure these things can crawl in anytime with a single click of your mouse.

Society IS backwards these days. Its spiraling down into nothing.