THE INSIDER THREAT

With reference to the news that was just published by Sarah Jackson from the Business Insider US (1), regarding the fact that the CEO of Apple(2), Tim Cook, is furious that employees won’t stop leaking information. Reading this article, I could not help to wonder why these types of leaks are on the increase. Is it because of people are tired of being controlled by government and corporations, since Covid19 or did employees get numb to the idea of losing their jobs? Or is there some sort of believe that no will be able to identify the person who leaked the information?

Covid19 might have given governments and companies some sort of a false sense of control over people. Unfortunately, it seems to have reached a level whereby both governments and corporations want to enforce policies that clearly intrudes on human rights with specific reference to the personal right of bodily integrity. The company can argue that this is not true as they make these policies in the best interest of all employees and to protect the workforce. They can also argue that they did not enforce vaccinations on you, as you still have a choice but they make it so unpleasant and costly that a person with an average salary cannot afford to take Covid tests every week to go to work. This is still a “no choice policy”. Companies has to protect their organisations and has a judiciary to do so but where is the line. Can companies enforce these vaccinations on employees? The answer is most probably “yes “under the umbrella of “in the interest of public policy”. Like in the case of Apple in this example is then how do companies protect this decision from the public domain. Companies might have policies that binds employees contractually from leaking confidential information but what if the employee could not care less or that the employees’ convictions and morals are stronger than the consequences of leaking confidential information. Making decisions that force them to do something, like vaccinations, that is absolutely against their will, shall place the company at risk. Important, we must always remind ourselves that we deal with people. With todays many communication channels, companies have to protect their environment diligently in every possible way. Information is leaked through email, social media etc. If you cannot establish where the leak started and contain it, the you are in trouble. You can write, like Apple’s CEO (3) , many memos to the employees but it will not stop such a tsunami, as it is too late.

The employee has accepted the terms and conditions of the employment contract and has no right to leak confidential information for whatever reason. They should be responsible towards the company and the company’s stakeholders at all times, leaks can result in lost of revenue and in return result in retrenchments. It becomes a vicious cycle. Employees that do leak this type of information, is usually either disgruntled or their convictions and principles override and other reason for decisions that intrudes on their human rights. The freedom of choice weighs much heavier than earning an income which leads to the leak of confidential information. But it does not a matter what the reasons are for their behaviour, we cannot lose sight of the impact insider leaks have on any business or government. It can cause great harm to a company’s reputation, and the stakeholders can lose their trust in the company that in return has a significant impact on reduced revenue streams. Important to recognise is the fact that an employee can always move on to another job but the company might not be able to contain the risk and it can even lead to liquidation. In short, it is much more difficult for a company to recuperate from such incident than it is for the employee.

^{(1) https://www.businessinsider.co.za/apple-ceo-tim-cook-says-leakers-do-not-belong-here-2021-9?r=US&IR=T}

^{(2) Apple Technology Company}