> “The reason I uploaded to svn.xp-dev.com was because it was not blocked by Goldman Sachs security policy,” Aleynikov wrote. The phrase, “not blocked by Goldman Sachs security policy,” was crossed out and he added: “I wanted to inspect the work later in a more usable environment.”
I'm not necessarily defending Aleynikov, but to me this just sounds like a case of paranoid security measures causing exactly what they were intended to prevent.
Seems like this dude messed with the wrong people. If there's one group that has the clout and the connections to make your life a living hell, it's the bankers. They're in direct contact with your credit rating, they go deep in government, and they have tons and tons of money. It's a bad idea to piss them off.
I don't see how his life is ruined. Charges were filed against him, he was questioned by investigators, and he is free on bail. He is getting a fair criminal trial, one that the finance industry's money can't really affect.
This is what happens to everyone that is accused of committing a crime more serious than jaywalking.
(As for his credit rating, what does it matter? If you're making 1.2MM a year, you can probably live without borrowing money.)
So...its just a crazy coincidence that the guy from London, the xp-dev.com guy, is/was a trading systems developer as well? Right...that guy knew about it being on his servers, hell, he was part of the scam! These guys were up to something. I don't know if the article was incorrect or what, but it says the Russian left a $400,000/yr job for one that paid $100,000 less? The government doesn't see anything fishy about that? AND, on the other link posted on HN the other day about the Goldman code torrent honeypot, the Citadel group connected to the torrent...and they are involved with the company that the alleged theif was leaving Goldman for! I mean come on, these avenues need to be explored.
Reports were the new job paid 3 times as much (about $1,200,000 annually). Which is consistent with the idea of going from GS to a hedge fund. This article says he mentioned that to co-workers. Now, the financial affidavit quotes $300,000 but this may be just the base pay (before bonuses).
I'm not necessarily defending Aleynikov, but to me this just sounds like a case of paranoid security measures causing exactly what they were intended to prevent.