
CyberSabotage
EMPLOYEEMALFEASANCE
IN T H E SOC I ALM E DI A AG E
Melany V Franklin*
Disgruntledemployeescancome fromanywhere  Howe verthereare
somecommonorfrequentlyobservedpaernsthatmaysignalelevatedvulner
abilityinfuturesituationsForexamplenineoutofofoursubjectswerein
theprocessofdealingwithanextremelyseriousemploymentproblemthathad
endedorthreatenedtheirjobs
Otherindicatorsofvulnerabilitythatmighthaveledtodetectionincluded
theoccurrenceof signicantorganizationwidechanges orstressesas wellas
personalstressors Anothermarkerofriskwas theuniquelevelofsystem
accessandorcontrolobtainedFinallytheseindividualswereconsistently
engagedinsocialorculturalworkplaceconicts
EricDShawî‡îˆ±LynnFFischerî…«
Thetopicof this papercybersabotagerefersto theuse oftech nology
includingsocia lmediato deliberatelyinicth armona norganization
Thefocusis onthemisuse oftechnologybyemployeesandformerem-
ployeesFor our purposes t he term coversc yberbullying disc losure
 MelanyVFrankli nisapartnerwit hBordenLadnerGervaisLLPTorontopractis-
inglabouremploymentandhuma nrightslawShehastakenparti nmisconduct
investigationsinvolvi ngsocialmediaShei sgratefulfortheres earchassista nceof
JacquelineStrandbe rgandRaquelKaplanGoldberga ndtoSteveKahanskyforh is
insights
 EricDShawî‡îˆ±LynnFFischerTenTalesofBetrayalTheT hreattoCorporateInfrastruc
turesbyInformationTechnologyInsidersAn alysisandObservationsMonter eyDefense
PersonnelSecu rityResearcha ndEducationCentreat
MVF
ofcondentialin formationdatathef tdatadestructiona ndcybordina-
tionwhichIwoulddeneasinsubordinatesociamed iapostings
InPart Awedemonstratehow legalprinciplesi ntheemployment
contexthave been appliedto addressc ybersabotageIn Part Bwe ex-
ploreprivacyconsiderationsandquestionsoffair nessthatmaybearon
anemployer sinvestigation intoal legations ofcyber sabotage InPartC 
weidentifypracticalstepsthatanemployermaytaketomitigatetherisk
ofharmassociatedwitht hisnewkindofmisconduct
ACYBE R SA B O TAG E I NANE M P L OY M E N T
CONTEXT
Accordingto YogiBerrathe future aintwhatit used tobeInternet
tec hn olog ie shav etran sfo rme dou ri nter act ionsw ith eac hot he rin div id-
uallyandonaglobalscale
Although the rewards associated with t he use of these technolo-
gies are potentially great so are t he risks At an organizationa l level
theInter netis agatewayfor both thegood andt hebadFor wouldbe
whistleblowersitis a megaphoneForthe disgruntled itsasoapbox
ForthievesitsanopportunityForhackersitsachallenge
Thelawhasrespondedtotheseproblemsasitusuallydoesbyap-
plyingtriedandtruelegalprinciplestonovelfactsituationsEventually
theleading caseswil lgiveus aroadmapfor assessingt heseriousness
ofc ybersabotagei na nygiven case and for determining whether the
misconductinquestionwarrantsdismi ssalforjustcause
Butweareintheearlydays
 Sabotage
Employeesabotagehasbeendenedasanintentionalactcalculatedto
damageanindividualassociatedwith thecompanycompanyproperty
corporateassetsorthecorporateentityitself
Cybersabotagelikeany wrongdoingissubjec ttodisciplineSabotage
isconsideredaseriousbreachoftrustI nRedirackLtdLtéevUnitedSteel
workersofAmericaLocalîˆ±î…³î…ªî…²î…²î‡°î… ArbitratorHaeî„šingwrites
 IPerrinWestonSabotageWorkplaceViole ncePreventionAPracticalGuideto
SecurityontheJobNorthVancouverSpec ialtyTechnicalPubl isherstabFch
atonlinewwwstpubt rainingcomimages DocumentsSABOTAGEpdf
î… î…î…LACî…dHaeî„šing
