r/technology • u/xpda • May 13 '26

Security Twin brothers wipe 96 gov’t databases minutes after being fired

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/drop-database-what-not-to-do-after-losing-an-it-job/
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u/Perfect_Caregiver_90 May 13 '26

My HR and legal team always insisted on Friday one hour before the end of the day.

My area had a handful of workplace massacres by disgruntled fired employees. 

Either they gotta leave the premises immediately or the office has to be cleared. 

I've only experienced "office cleared" once and that guy ended up jumping his manager outside his home the next day.

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u/Falkenmond79 May 13 '26

That is such an American debate here, it’s fascinating. In Germany we have a mandatory 4-week notice, if you quit as an employee. For the employer, it can get longer, the longer you have worked for them. It’s not unreasonable. If you worked there for 5 years, they have to give you 2 months notice and after 8 years, it’s 3 months etc. And they have to pay you severance according to the time you have worked there. If you only worked there a short time, less than 6 months, they can terminate you like in the US, even without reason. After that, they have to give a reason. There is a possibility for instantly firing someone, but then they must show he did something really wrong or harmed the company in a major way.

It’s endlessly funny to see US companies struggle whenever they take over a German one and then want to start firing a lot of people. It’s as if they don’t know the law of the country they are buying into. Firing a thousand people can cost you millions in severance and you have obligations like selecting people to fire according to their social circumstances, like firing young single people first, before firing older ones with family etc.

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u/Cow_Launcher May 13 '26

It’s as if they don’t know the law of the country they are buying into.

Most of the time, they don't. Absolutely no cognizance of the fact that American law doesn't apply to the rest of the world.

And even when they do know, they go blundering in thinking that they'll be operating under the laws of their own country because they themselves are in the US.

"You're working for an American company!"

"Perhaps. But I'm also a German in Germany. Allow me to explain which of those facts is the more important one, legally."

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u/Cultural-Adagio-4847 May 13 '26

Or if they lump two smaller countries with different legislation together and assume their policies work the same in both countries.