DominiConnor
Quant Headhunter
- Joined
- 9/6/06
- Messages
- 1,051
- Points
- 93
TraderJoe is giving an opinion that you should not only ignore, but take care to believe the exact opposite. Indian background checking is indeed behind the standards in the West, but that is changing, and even today it's a risk not worth taking. One can go off the grid
As Andy says, this is something that can happen to anyone here.
I detect an uptick in the lengths companies will go to safeguard what they think of as their intellectual property, so the odds are not moving in your favour.
Be aware that there exist companies whose speciality is finding 'lost' data. Merely deleting files is not enough.
Seeing as part of the issue is "taking code home", I will repeat the our standard P&D advice for algotraders.
Go through the disk of your home computer, identifying files you want to keep that have nothing to do with your current employment.
Copy them to a USB stick, and only copy those files.
Backup saved passwords for gmail and other online accounts.
Check that your online accounts don't contain notes from your employment.
Put on safety glasses.
Extract the hard disk from your computer , and hit it repeatedly with a hammer until the disk itself is broken. *Do not* try microwaving the disk or heating it up in any other way. Just don't, OK ?
Ditto chemicals. I've worked as a chemist and know how to do this safely, you don't.
Papers may of course be burned, but be aware that most shredders do not shred paper beyond repair. A few years back a Canadian bank accidentally shredded the wrong bags of cheques, within a couple of weeks they had them again.
USB keys are both fragile and indestructible. Sometimes they will stop working for no obvious reason, other times you can stamp on them in a puddle with no effect. (I have children and thus an intuition to the breaking strain of technology)
Be also aware that anyone who has received formal training in information security knows that people who are looking to leave have sticky fingers. The evidence is that people even take things that can't realistically be any use to them.
Also, if you've done Real programming, you also know that easter eggs can be hidden in source code. A trivial example is what looks like a routine to input tickers and prices. Give it certain input and the ticker will read "This code has been stolen", even though that literal does not exist in the source code. Hiding easter eggs in compiled code is even easier. Hard to defend that in court.
Be also aware that your new employer is not on your side.
Depending on their situation, they may be horrified that you did wrong, or just that you got caught. Either way you must assume that your interests and their are no longer aligned. Bringing code into their office will create an audit trail that they will give to the court, willingly or otherwise.
You almost certainly will have to fight the legal case all by yourself, and if your new employer can make you a scapegoat to get out of trouble, you should assume they will.
All that being said, as someone who teaches bankers programming, I'd be embarassed if one of my students got caught being so dumb. As of this week I have programming interns, and so I'm in the interesting position that they will be taught useful amounts of Real programming...
As Andy says, this is something that can happen to anyone here.
I detect an uptick in the lengths companies will go to safeguard what they think of as their intellectual property, so the odds are not moving in your favour.
Be aware that there exist companies whose speciality is finding 'lost' data. Merely deleting files is not enough.
Seeing as part of the issue is "taking code home", I will repeat the our standard P&D advice for algotraders.
Go through the disk of your home computer, identifying files you want to keep that have nothing to do with your current employment.
Copy them to a USB stick, and only copy those files.
Backup saved passwords for gmail and other online accounts.
Check that your online accounts don't contain notes from your employment.
Put on safety glasses.
Extract the hard disk from your computer , and hit it repeatedly with a hammer until the disk itself is broken. *Do not* try microwaving the disk or heating it up in any other way. Just don't, OK ?
Ditto chemicals. I've worked as a chemist and know how to do this safely, you don't.
Papers may of course be burned, but be aware that most shredders do not shred paper beyond repair. A few years back a Canadian bank accidentally shredded the wrong bags of cheques, within a couple of weeks they had them again.
USB keys are both fragile and indestructible. Sometimes they will stop working for no obvious reason, other times you can stamp on them in a puddle with no effect. (I have children and thus an intuition to the breaking strain of technology)
Be also aware that anyone who has received formal training in information security knows that people who are looking to leave have sticky fingers. The evidence is that people even take things that can't realistically be any use to them.
Also, if you've done Real programming, you also know that easter eggs can be hidden in source code. A trivial example is what looks like a routine to input tickers and prices. Give it certain input and the ticker will read "This code has been stolen", even though that literal does not exist in the source code. Hiding easter eggs in compiled code is even easier. Hard to defend that in court.
Be also aware that your new employer is not on your side.
Depending on their situation, they may be horrified that you did wrong, or just that you got caught. Either way you must assume that your interests and their are no longer aligned. Bringing code into their office will create an audit trail that they will give to the court, willingly or otherwise.
You almost certainly will have to fight the legal case all by yourself, and if your new employer can make you a scapegoat to get out of trouble, you should assume they will.
All that being said, as someone who teaches bankers programming, I'd be embarassed if one of my students got caught being so dumb. As of this week I have programming interns, and so I'm in the interesting position that they will be taught useful amounts of Real programming...
