PA and Secretary Community - Deskdemon.com

I'm stepping in here to seek advice on a particular matter from fellow professionals

What would you do if you discovered that a colleague was using your company's computer for criminal activity that doesn not affect the company (i.e. to benefit their personal life)?

A friend of mine is EA in another company and has come to me with this problem.  They have networked computers and dip in and out of each other's work zones, so any files stored are there for all to see. 

Thank you, in advance, for your responses.

Best wishes,

Rose

So let me get this right, an employee who works with your friend is effectively using the company's computer system for criminal activity not pertaining to their job?

Surely any criminal activity carried out in work time on a company's computer system is illegal?!?!?

Dangerous...he/she would need evidence to prove this which in turn could lead to all sorts of trouble.

My guess is that if IT are not onto this already, they will be, and your friend could be the one in trouble.

Is this individual sending out information or storing it?

Gee,

Thank you for your reply. 

The company is quite small, so they don't have an IT department as we do, but an external company that provides IT backup when needed.  IT definitely won't be "onto" this one. 

It's not whether the activity was carried out in work time that is important.  It may have been carried out after work time is ended. 

OK.  It is most unlikely that anyone here at DD can identify me or my friend (he isn't registered with DD).  This is the story:

The company in question has networked computers.  Everyone can see everyone else's stuff in their networked files EXCEPT for "my documents" and "private" folders.  My friend had to obtain a copy of documents from his colleague.  Normally, he would ask for them to be emailed, but it so happens that the colleague is on leave so he can't ask for them.  He logs into the colleague's folder and searches for a document.  In doing so, he comes across a set of documents which he thinks may be relevant to what he needs.   He opens them.  Some are relevant; some are not.  The ones that are not relevant are very shocking.  Taken individually, the documents seem quite innocuous.  When linked together, they clearly indicate that the colleague has been writing letters and documents to further a fraudulent activity.  The fraudulent activity has nothing to do with the company they work for.  The fact that documents have been saved to a computer is not proof that they have been used, but an indication that they might have been used (may seem likes semantics, but some people say "I'm going to kill so-and-so" - it doesn't mean they really will murder that person). 

Now that my friend is aware of this matter, what should he do?  The company's computer use policy has been breached and a crime may have been committed.   Is he obliged to report it? Let sleeping dogs lie; it isn't his problem?  Suggest his colleague saves personal documents onto a memory stick? 

That is a difficult situation and one which other members may be able to advise you on better than me.

However in simple terms, it's probably along the lines of an individual drafting a letter/document regarding a matter not related to work and storing it on their pc where someone can access it and read it.

I agree to a degree that the company's computer usage policy has been breached but what would your friend actually be blowing the whistle on.....policy breach or content matter?

If it involves actual criminal behavior (versus say writing a personal ad for example), then I would definitely report it to either my boss or the employee's boss.

It COULD affect the company (as many companies have found out the hard way when employees used company computers to do criminal activity).

Thank you, Ms Marie.  Much appreciated.

Best wishes,

Rose

I was going to post along the same lines as Marie.  Use of the company's resources makes the company liable for the actions and ultimately could affect your friend's job.  She needs to report to her supervisor, document offsite that she did, and then let them  handle it.  I say to document it just to cover herself if nothing is done right away and someone later comes to her and asks if she knew and why she didn't report it.

I too agree with the recommendations provided.