Ethical Hacking News
A former IT manager claims that he was unfairly fired after reporting unauthorized access to Deutsche Bank's server rooms, sparking a lawsuit alleging negligence and retaliation. The incident has raised concerns about inadequate security measures and the importance of protecting whistleblowers.
Papa, a former Computacenter manager, was unfairly fired after reporting a colleague's negligence in allowing his girlfriend unauthorized access to Deutsche Bank's server rooms. CCTV footage showed the bank's security team allowed Jenny into the server room multiple times without formal authorization. Papa alleged that he was aggressively interrogated and eventually suspended from his job before being fired by Computacenter. Deutsche Bank allegedly failed to inform the SEC about the incident, violating corporate reporting requirements. Papa is seeking over $20 million in damages for emotional, physical, and monetary harm caused by his treatment.
A recent lawsuit has shed light on a disturbing case of negligence and retaliation in the cybersecurity industry. A former manager at Computacenter, James Papa, claims that he was unfairly fired after alerting management that a colleague had repeatedly given his girlfriend unauthorized access to Deutsche Bank's server rooms.
The incident occurred in 2023 when Papa was a service delivery manager at Computacenter, which provides computer systems to Deutsche Bank in New York. According to the lawsuit, Papa raised concerns about one of his colleagues, who would regularly let his Chinese girlfriend, Jenny, into the bank's server rooms without permission. CCTV footage obtained by Papa shows that the bank's security team allowed Jenny into the server room with her boyfriend on multiple occasions, despite not having formal authorization.
Papa also alleged that the colleague allowed his 40-something partner to use his laptop and work account while it was plugged into the Deutsche Bank IT network. This breach of protocol raised significant concerns about the security of sensitive private banking records and transactions for hundreds of thousands of customers.
Despite blowing the whistle, Papa claimed that he was hauled into a meeting with Computacenter and Deutsche Bank's lawyers and the finance house's security staff, where he was "aggressively interrogated" for some time. He alleged that each time he pointed out DB's obvious and egregious security failures in allowing Jenny entry into headquarters, DB's lawyer and DB's security representatives at the meeting became agitated and even more aggressive in their behavior toward Mr Papa.
At the end of one such meeting, Papa was suspended from his job. The following month he was fired, allegedly at the instigation of Deutsche Bank and Senatore for bringing attention to the security failure. He also claims that the SEC was not informed of the incident, which is a corporate reporting requirement.
Papa's lawsuit alleges that Computacenter, Deutsche Bank, and their vice president of datacenter operations, Marc Senatore, broke New York's whistleblower protection laws and were negligent. He is seeking more than $20 million after he "suffered significant emotional, physical and monetary damage."
The incident has raised questions about the inadequate security measures in place at Deutsche Bank and Computacenter. It also highlights the importance of whistleblowers and their rights to report security breaches without fear of retaliation.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/A-Sensitive-Data-Breach-IT-Manager-Claims-Firing-After-Reporting-Unauthorized-Access-to-Deutsche-Banks-Server-Rooms-ehn.shtml
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/05/06/computacenter_deutsche_bank_whistleblower/
Published: Tue May 6 17:15:59 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
