this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2024
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If that happens, they are going to see a lot of things seemingly from the past connected to union activity though.
Not just strike breakers being hired (some of tech work is not that demanding in expertise, think typical Hindu web devs), but also actual spies, saboteurs, hitmen being involved, propaganda attacks, possibly legal attempts to bust unions and use of force. And, of course, crucial positions in union bureaucracy becoming attractive for organized crime (which likely has very few of people associated with it ever convicted, as in mostly invisible until it's too late).
Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Just the more adult level of the game. Considering that the tech industry is at the core of our civilization now, and considering its profits, this can get as historic as battle of the Blair mountain.
this can't happen because the kill switch activates after 72 hours and "order 66" initiates, plunging the whole stack into lockdown and the org into absolute chaos.
hope there were backups you strike busting pieces of shit.
don't fuck with IT professionals. you take away the only fulfillment we get out of life and you will come to personally understand the meaning behind, "there are worse fates than death"
apes strong together.
As much as I love the sounds of that it seems like a good way to get arrested under some anti-hacking laws.
lol. you think any judge or jury is going to understand the nuances of how a kill switch works?
"did you implement a kill switch that harmed my clients interests?" -- "I have no idea what you're talking about, and furthermore had your client not broken anti-union laws and came to negotiations, staff could have been available to identify and resolve the issues your client allowed to happen through their own willful negligence."
The Judge and Jury don't have to know how a kill switch works. The Judge and Jury have to believe the expert testimony that one was placed and caused damage.
Sam Bankman Freed didn't get jail time because the judge and jury understood the nuances of cryptocurrency and financial scams.
I think the key here is intent. kill switch or not, proving you had the intent to harm is what you're found guilty of.
can't prove intent on code that's had all history wiped from it and sat in prod for several years.
"why does this code exist?" -- "IDK" "in your expert opinion why does this exist?" -- "I cannot express my expert opinion because of a lack of evidence"
That feels like a very... hopeful interpretation. Instead of "In my expert opinion there is no non-malicious use of this component, and SysadminX was the only one with possible access."
Intent is not always necessary, it depends on the charges.
Computer Forensics isn't a new discipline at this point. People have literally gone to jail for putting in kill switches. It's possible SysadminX is actually smarter than teams of people that are dissecting what happened after they were fired and is a real life Keyser Soze, but it's extremely unlikely.
Honestly, you don't have to create a kill switch. Most stuff will fall apart due to dependency on manual intervention. Usually because there isn't enough staff to automate it. Tech debt comes for everyone.
Ab-so-fucking-lutely.
For a job that requires a lot of reminding people "that's not your laptop, that's the companies' laptop", a lot of people get awful invested in "their servers". Just let it go.
I know their business decision, however misguided, was very personal. Prove their mistake, which they will never know or care about, by moving on to the next job. Not by trying to be the sub-villain in a B-movie.
Yes, I do think that.
I agree, this particular trait of today's tech industry in this particular case works in our favor.
For other political and social factors - not so much.
One new difference in our favor: we can reasonably have meetings online, no longer needing a large shared space.
WFH + satellite internet + solar panels = If you want to threaten violence, you'll have to find me
Be sure to use a VPN or Tor!