Singapore — A man who was given only a day’s notice of his impending dismissal despite his earlier resignation took offence by deleting company files from its Google Drive.
On Tuesday (Dec 7), Tan Wei Chiang pleaded guilty to one charge under the Computer Misuse Act of unauthorised modification of computer contents.
Tan had worked as a production manager at meat production firm 786 SG and was responsible for planning the production schedule and inspecting the quality of goods.
It was reported that Tan had tendered a resignation letter on Jan 4 this year and began serving his 30-day notice period as stipulated by his employment contract.
However, his direct supervisor handed Tan a letter of termination on Jan 12, indicating his employment would be terminated with one day’s notice.
The termination was based on Tan’s overall performance and failing to meet the company’s expectations, according to Channel News Asia.
The letter states that Tan would receive his final pro-rated salary at the end of January 2021, which he signed and accepted.
He was told to hand over all ongoing projects as well as company account details and other documents and information.
During the handover period, Tan used his company account to access their Google Drive. He then deleted a total of 20 documents. Of the 20 company property files, he deleted 16 from the trash bin.
Tan’s supervisor later asked him if the company’s production records were still in Google Drive, as she could not locate them.
Tan denied deleting the file and guided her where to search for the file. He did not comment when asked if he deleted the file by accident.
After engaging an IT employee to track Tan’s user logs, it was confirmed that he had deleted the documents.
It was reported that the company managed to retrieve 16 of the 20 deleted files which contained workers’ overtime records, a consolidated record of the company’s compliance with Singapore Food Agency (SFA) requirements, a list of guidelines for factory workers and an acknowledgement form for customers upon receipt of goods, reported CNA.
Employees expended time and effort during the retrieval process; some had to recreate the file from scratch. They also reached out to SFA for other records.
As a result, Tan’s outstanding salary was lowered by S$1,500 for his actions.
The prosecutor asked for a S$5,000 fine for Tan, noting he had offended in a deliberate manner, going as far as deleting the items permanently from the bin.
He also showed a lack of remorse and denied his actions when confronted.
Meanwhile, defence lawyer Kalidass Murugaiyan asked for a fine of S$2,500, adding that the deleted files contained readily available information.
“It’s collated information; the work was done by the accused person. He’s, of course, wrong to have deleted those items,” he said.
“The loss of these documents, is not, as if – say, the loss of a precious ring. So all that needs to be done – not to make light of it – is manpower required to reorganise the documents.”
During sentencing, the judge said that Tan’s act was motivated by anger and could not be tolerated. However, it was taken into account that Tan had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
Under the Computer Misuse Act, Tan could have been imprisoned for up to three years, fined up to S$10,000, or both.
Preventing company property loss when an employee leaves
A couple of ways highlighted online regarding safeguarding company files stored digitally is never to store data at a single point and ensure encryption keys are known to at least two independent users. Conducting regular backups is also recommended.
Companies can also implement Data Loss or Leak Prevention (DLP) systems which can be acquired from third-party service providers if said data is highly confidential.
Other practices include doing an exit interview to ensure the employee’s account is properly terminated before they leave. An audit of the employee’s web or account activities can also reveal if company property files were copied, among other unusual online behaviour. /TISG
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