Social Media & Loss Prevention
Employees &
Customers
Cynthia
Hetherington
www.hetheringtongroup.com
CH@hetheringtongroup.com
Cynthiahetherington
HetheringtonGroup
@HetheringtonGrp
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Cynthia is a…
Librarian
Analyst
Investigator
Certified Fraud Examiner
Security Practitioner
Author of:
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Business Background Investigators
The Manual to Online Public Records
Web of Deceit
Data2Know.com: Internet & Online Intelligence Newsletter
Public Information
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Business profile
Academic history
Business connections
Personal affiliations
Hobbies
Sports teams
Opinions
Work schedule
Height, weight, gender
Travel schedule
Caffeine or no?
• Intellectual property
• Political & charitable causes
• Photos of yourself, your family
and friends
• Videos inside facilities
• Where you are and what you
are doing every minute of the
day!
• Updates on family events
• Drug habits
• Illnesses
• Sexual preferences
No one seems concerned
o Children are posting
o Predators
o Business Professionals are posting
o Competitors and Bosses are watching
o Everyone’s posting
o Reality TV meet Reality Blogger
Some examples of over exposure!
The Weakest Link
• Vincent "Make everyday the best
day of your entire life!!!!"
• Male 24 years old
• Clifton, NEW JERSEY
Works for Large German
Manufacturing Company
• Former Marine
Are those network schematics?
Hello?
• Employed by:
• Large German Manufacturing
Company
Passaic, NJ, US
Computer Programmer
01/04....CURRENT
CENSORED
Meet Peter from Happy Family Co.
• Male 22 years old
Los Angeles, CA
• HFC Feature Animation
• Burbank, CA, US
• Programmer, Editorial/PostProduction Technical
Department
• Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory
• Livermore, CA, US
• Computer Programmer
Intern, Defense Nuclear
Technology
• Peter’s packing!
Employee Violence Signs
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George Sodini
Nidal Hasan
Jared Loughner
James Holmes
Anders Behring Breivik
Bosses at Risk
Patricia Russo
• Bart Ross (57) electrician and cancer survivor who had spent the
final years of his life in an escalating spiral of anger trying to blame
doctors and lawyers for what he deemed ineffective care during his
cancer treatment. Ross was believed to have killed a Chicago
federal judge's husband and mother (Michael Lefkow [64] and
Donna Humphrey [89], respectively) in retribution for having his
case thrown out of federal court and was linked to the killings by a
DNA match to a cigarette butt found at the scene of the murders.
Ross killed himself after a routine traffic stop in Allis, Wisconsin on
March 9, 2005.
Kidnapped ex-Sara Lee
Exec Found Dead in Tenn.
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James David Cockman, 71, had been missing from
Landrum, SC after a planned meeting with a couple
interested in buying his sport utility vehicle, Tuesday, Sept.
14.
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The Greenville County Coroner's Office ruled Jim
Cockman's death a homicide. The deputy coroner said that
duct tape had been wrapped around Cockman's head from
his shirt collar to his eyebrows, and that Cockman
suffocated as a result. Police say murder charges may
follow for the two in custody.
Legal Issues
• Social media and the law is still the Wild West.
• Many courts are still apply the traditional laws
dealing with labor, trade secrets, and
compliance.
• However, the judges take into consider the
way users post anything/everything without
consideration for their own privacy.
– Romano v Steelcase Inc. (2010 NY Slip Op 20388)
Keeping up with the Legal Issues
• www.socialmedialawupdate.com by Michelle
Sherman of SheppardMullin Law Firm.
Policy Management
• Have one!
• In the end, it is the best solution for the legal
issues that occur.
• Provide internal training for employee use of
office accounts and equipment.
• Remind employees that use of the company
name or image, outside of the office, is not
permitted without permission.
• Have a technology solution to manage users.
Queen of the Sky
• A flight attendant for Delta Air Lines for 8
years was fired in 2004 for posting
alluring pictures of herself in her uniform
on her blog, Diary of a Flight Attendant.
• Her identity was exposed once she
posted her pictures.
• After her dismissal, Ellen fought back
with a sexual discrimination suit,
championed blogger’s rights, and wrote
a book, Diary of a Dysfunctional Flight
Attendant: The Queen of Sky Blog.
Social Media and Your Employees
• Have a written agreement.
• Manage your content and trade secrets.
• Remove all access when an employee
leaves.
• Make sure your intentions are clearly
stated.
Written Agreements
• A Statistical Analysis of Trade Secret Litigation in
Federal Courts
• From 1950 through 2008, it was found that
employees prevailed winning 54.1% of the
summary judgment motions versus their
employers.
• The study also found that while there is no
guideline for reasonable measures an employer
must take to protect its trade secrets, the most
important thing an employer can do is to have a
confidentiality agreement with its employees.
Social Media and Expectations
• Your expectation of privacy can be exploited by
your employee’s social media exposure.
• A federal court in the Eastern District of New York
held in August 2010, that a customer list of an
executive search consulting firm was not a trade
secret given the fact that the list and needs of the
firm's clients could be pieced together through
internet searches.
• Create a review process for all outgoing media.
Kick Them Out
• Act Promptly To Remove Employees From Social
Media Accounts When You Know The
Employment Relationship Is Ending.
• Along with taking possession of their credit cards
and cellphones, change the locks, the passwords
and user permissions for all media devices.
• Explain to them that they are no longer
permitted to speak (post) for the company.
• Remind them of the confidentiality agreement.
Be Clear in your Non-Compete
• If you have a social media non-compete or
confidentiality agreement with your employees,
make sure your intentions are clearly stated.
• Have a clearly written policy about what is
permissible to post, what needs to be approved
and what happens at employee termination.
• Have the employee review and sign off annually.
What’s out there?
• Try out your own investigative skills.
• It’s not just for ex-girlfriends and stalkers.
• KNOW what is findable about yourself!
Linkedin
Searching Linkedin
There is a generic search box in the
Upper right hand corner that allows
you to look for people or companies, etc.
The Advanced Search is very
robust allowing you to filter by
country, industry, school, and
other factors.
After conducting your search if you
have multiple entries, you can narrow
down from the filter list on the left.
Linkedin.com
Investigative Notes - Linkedin
• You have to have an account with Linkedin in
order to conduct a search.
• Linkedin’s Terms of Service states they do not
want you to technically or socially circumvent
their security by creating a false profile.
• Most Linkedin profiles are not secured.
Investigative Notes - Linkedin
• People tend to use their full and proper names
• Linkedin lists the full name after the /in/
– Linkedin.com/in/cynthiahetherington
• Read everything. The devil is in the details.
• Find out who he or she recommends.
• Find out who recommended him or her.
Investigative Notes - Linkedin
• Look for inconsistencies with what you already
know.
– If you have the resume, compare and contrast.
Follow up
• Clear and well understood policies will take
care of most of your issues.
• Internal Auditors with an understanding of the
resources that are available and how they can
be used.
• Use technology solutions where possible.
• Make sure your lawyers & human resources
keep up with change.
Thank you!
Cynthia Hetherington
www.hetheringtongroup.com
CH@hetheringtongroup.com
Cynthiahetherington
HetheringtonGroup
@HetheringtonGrp