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Comment by serjester | Hacker News Reader

Agreed. Is anyone really going to risk their cushy FAANG job to give their buddy a cool handle? Possible, but seems far fetched.

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I have seen this happen firsthand on several occasions at several companies, and it’s a well documented risk vector. You see it for things like username takeovers, and also ad account reactivations.

Typically it is not the people with cushy jobs, but those working for vendor companies (moderation, customer support, etc) who have little investment in the company, are barely making minimum wage, and are more than happy to flip a few switches in the dashboard for a few thousand (or less).

People with positions of power are regularly found to take bribes that wouldn't even be a 1/10th of their normal paycheck. Power tripping is a recognized phenomenon, and greed makes people do irrational things sometimes.

The lower-level jobs aren't as "cushy"; I don't see an engineer doing this but I can definitely see a junior in a lower-level customer service or similar administrative role do this.

You cannot imagine how many times I have caught red handed, people with that mentality "screw the policy, my friend needs a loan/credit card/etc". A a bank can and will drag you to court and rip you a new one. That said, not all banks are scummy to create cards/loans to clients without their knowing. Some actually play by the book.

Anyway, yes some people think that because they are good enough at what they do, they will be given a pass when caught. Unbeknownst to them, if any auditors catch them, then the "jokers" can start updating their CV.

> Is anyone really going to risk their cushy FAANG job to give their buddy a cool handle? Possible, but seems far fetched.

Given the kind of ethically vacuous tech-bro who might join FB in 2020? Not _that_ far-fetched.

Ethically vacuous doesn't mean stupid though, and I doubt they will jeopardize a lucrative career for a quick buck or bragging rights in front of their friends.

People do this all of the time, and there is nothing about jumping through Facebook interview hoops that prevents people from making immoral decisions for personal gain once they're an employee.

You might even argue that joining Facebook is an example of "making an immoral decision for personal gain", therefore any Facebook employee has track record at that.

Except if they're sure they won't be caught.

Isn't that how actual crime works?

I doubt the low level customer service is a cushy FAANG job. Probably all contractors as well.

I'm like 90% sure there was an article about Shopify employees stealing customer data just recently. Not FAANG, granted, but it's still a traditional way of data leaking or accounts being stolen. Inside jobs aren't exactly a rarity.

[0]: https://community.shopify.com/c/Shopify-Discussion/Incident-...

Yup, here it is, just five days ago.

People made a lot more stupid things for less

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