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ByteDance sacks intern for sabotaging AI project

(www.bbc.com)
192 points beedeebeedee | 1 comments | 21 Oct 24 03:21 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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peterkos ◴[21 Oct 24 04:04 UTC] No.41900587[source]▶
I'm reminded of a time that an intern took down us-east1 on AWS, by modifying a configuration file they shouldn't have had access to. Amazon (somehow) did the correct thing and didn't fire them -- instead, they used the experience to fix the security hole. It was a file they shouldn't have had access to in the first place.

If the intern "had no experience with the AI lab", is it the right thing to do to fire them, instead of admitting that there is a security/access fault internally? Can other employees (intentionally, or unintentionally) cause that same amount of "damage"?

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dudus ◴[21 Oct 24 04:11 UTC] No.41900627[source]▶
The difference in this case is intent.

Did the employee have the intent to cause damage? If so just fire him/her.

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1. danpalmer ◴[21 Oct 24 04:40 UTC] No.41900733[source]▶
Malicious intent to be precise. Well-intentioned attempts to demonstrate issues for the purposes of helping to fix should generally not be punished, unless there is a wider fallout than expected and that can be attributed to negligence.