You're the DBA, working along, checking on servers and performance. It's a normal Monday and everything looks good. The CIO stops by and asks for a report of sales data, with customer names, SSNs, and credit card data. He says he's working with security on a fraud item and you're not to tell anyone.
It sounds fishy to you. Why is the CIO involved and not the security group? You suspect something is wrong. So for the Friday poll...
What Would You Do?
I like polls, especially the ones that make you think. So here's your chance to examine what you think makes sense. I'm honestly not sure how I'd react, but I'd like to think I'd follow orders and then follow up with another group to ensure the data is really being used.
It could be that your CIO is a target of cybercrime. I doubt that his family is being held hostage like in Firewall, but there could be some other pressure being applied.
So do you take a chance that you'll be fired if the CIO finds out and it's a legitimate use? Do you keep your suspicions tightly held? In the movies, people keep a secret and then they get killed because they know something they shouldn't, and it's easy to kill one person.
I'd like to think that I'd go down to the security group, maybe make an inquiry and be sure I asked a few people if there was an investigation of some sort occurring, but not necessarily saying it was the CIO that asked for the data. Depending on what I'd learned, I might then tell them the CIO asked for the data, or even go to the CEO or someone else and be sure that there wasn't any abuse occurring with the data.
It's a nice suspenseful Friday poll for you. Let us know your reaction.
Steve Jones
The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
Podshow had some issues yesterday, so the Quicktime and WMV versions will be uploaded as soon as possible.
The podcast feeds are now available at sqlservercentral.podshow.com to get better bandwidth and maybe a little more exposure :). Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there.
or now on iTunes!
- Quicktime Podcast - 18.7MB
- Windows Media Podcast - 7.6MB WMV
- iPod Video Podcast - 6.5MB MP4
- MP3 Audio Podcast - 2.9MB
Today's podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.
I really appreciate and value feedback on the podcasts. Let us know what you like, don't like, or even send in ideas for the show. If you'd like to comment, post something here. The boss will be sure to read it.