> It would appear that Abdi's plan may not have succeeded

His wire transfers failed - isn't that what safeguards and IT security are supposed to produce.

Really the headline for this story should be "IT security and anti-fraud procedures work as designed", but of course that sort of good-news story wouldn't sucker-in the readership, so instead we get a headline that makes us think someone got away with it - when in fact they didn't.

So why was his keycard still working? That should have been handed in as he left the premises for the last time. There's your fundamental security breach, they let him back on the premises.

...would Abdi consider a career in Westminster? He seems well-qualified for the job if only he could get over his instinct to run away after stealing money - that sort of behaviour suggests he knew it was wrong and is therefore not suited to MPs.

puns about 'liquid assets'.

As a resident to California area (unincorporated) suffering under the ever increasing bills from a private water company, I am firmly convinced that greed and water (a necessity of life) do not mix. All water systems must be government owned/controlled. By the people and for the people. Ask the folks in Bolivia.

Sounds like the bank had a clue, stopping the transfer.

Abdi didn't - you want to fraud quietly, accumulate some cash and then Madoff with the loot.

And the utility sure as hell didn't have a clue if they somehow let him attempt those transfers from their secured buildings. Once your employment is done, you really should be escorted off site pretty quickly and all sensitive IT access shut off. It happened to me, and I could quite easily understand the reasons, even though it felt cold blooded. You are henceforth a guest, to be treated nicely, but a guest nevertheless. Sensitive IT work is predicated on trust, to an extent, and you really can't trust someone in this kind of situation.

I'm glad this got reported - insider risks are big, but do not result in much $ for software vendors so tendencies are to hype the latest security buzztech instead.

But hey, New West, BC, is in my 'hood so maybe I'll see Amdi around.

that is all

Pack the wife and kids and send them off to Frankfurt. Leave California and head to New Westminster...

I bet he had a bit on the side there!

--Ronnie Biggs

This is obviously all a big misunderstanding. He's an auditor and what he's doing is checking the company procedures for dealing with resignation of staff. He's carrying out activities intended to excercise and stress those procedures so find put where the weak points are. He can probably produce an e-mail from someone asking him to audit procedures.

OK, he's got a bit carried away and has extended the test to external banks and police agencies, but this is good, it shows he is keen and committed to doing a really good job of this test. There are many links between a company and external organisations and these links have to be tested.

When he's finally apprehended, he'll ask the arresting officer to sign and date the corresponding item on the test script and that will be the end of it.

For anyone who wants to compare and contrast (do we remember how to do that?) this with the Madoff case.