DUH. This shit happens all the time
If I had to count how often this kinda shit happens, I'd be too damn busy to bill for it.
I have a consulting business and many of my clients have been in this situation as they never asked their employees, previous employees, or contractors for the passwords. In most cases someone set something up and neglected to document.
I recently picked up a "customer" whose previous computer consulting company was a "bunch of idiots," per the business owner. He proceeded to tell me they had done shitty work, which is why they were working with me, and they hadn't paid them. So after 45 hours of work I performed, including hacking my way into their firewall (they didn't know the password and the previous company wouldn''t divolve), I fixed all the minor fixes they needed and made some vast improvements.
Much to my suprise when they also refused to pay me and are currently onto another consulting company. I called their previous company and they relayed a similar story which they had come in for a week or two of work...which was to replace the previous "shitty company." So, when the new company called me to get the passwords...I told them to run away before they wasted time and were fruitless in their work. Needless to say, I still have the password, and I don't care if they got in or not. I haven't been called or contacted by this "non-paying" company.
On the flip side, I would assume Terry probably has a shitty moron boss who didn't think to get the password to "job share" a new guy or to allow this guy to take a vacation. If his manager was too inept to get this password before letting him go, the manager should also be let go for being an innept moron! The "devised a way to spy on email" bit the media is pushing is again ill-informed. Use Ethereal, its a free tool to monitor the traffic on the network. Amazingly email and most other traffic comes across in clear text. This is not magical, or malicious. The guy was probably doing his job, by watching traffic and this manager is simply trying to Cover his Ass. He probably fears, he was watching email and a simple network monitor program is his out to his more innept upper management.
Go Terry! We know you didn't disable accounts, there probably were no other accounts with <root> access. Its just good to know we are more feared than murderers or rapists in SanFranFreako! I guarantee if this guy was smart he saved every email his boss sent and will make the SanFran government look like the fools they are.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
