Ms. M. Hsieh worked as a customer support representative for the Wollongong Group, a small software company (Palo Alto, California). She was fired in late 1987. In early 1988, Wollongong discovered that someone was logging onto its computers at night via a modem and had altered and copied files. During investigation, the police traced the calls to Ms. Hsieh’s home and found copies there of proprietary information valued at several million dollars. It is interesting to note that Ms. Hsieh’s access code was canceled the day she was terminated. However, the company suspects that Ms. Hsieh obtained the access code of another employee. (Source: Based on BusinessWeek, August 1, 1988, p. 67.)

a. How was the crime committed? Why were the controls ineffective? (State any relevant assumptions.)

b. What can Wollongong, or any company, do in order to prevent similar incidents in the future?