Manager showed off his DOS prowess – with a command that wiped data
Never believe a suit who says they're handy with tech
In the annals of workplace blunders, a tale emerges from the 1980s Swedish construction site where Clay, the most junior member of the management team, learned a valuable lesson about computer security. The site boasted only two engineers, who were the exclusive users of computers—an era before PCs became commonplace. Intrigued by this new technology, Clay sought permission to test the machine during a lunch break.
Reluctantly, the junior engineer agreed, allowing Clay to sit down and attempt the only command he knew: "DEL *.*". His actions resulted in the deletion of every file in the accessible directory, a tragic error that would haunt him for years. Fortunately, his colleagues were understanding, and Clay retained his position. However, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the potential havoc that can be unleashed by a careless user.
The moral of this cautionary tale is crystal clear: never underestimate the potential consequences of granting access to a computer to an unsupervised individual. If you, too, have experienced the chaos that can arise from such scenarios, please reach out to this column with your story. Together, let us learn how to prevent such mishaps in the future.
Written by urgent.news from The Register Software's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
