THREAT FACTOR | EPISODE 2
The Price
of Urgency
As Wes races to meet CEO demands, could his decisions be paving the way for a cybersecurity breach?
Wes
SHUTTER PRO
CHIEF OF STAFF
LIKES:
Organization, helping others, tech gadgets, reading, biking
DISLIKES:
Last-minute requests, poor communication, being overworked
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Streamlines processes and
improves organizational
effectiveness
• Implements and tracks progress
on strategic initiatives
• Handles confidential information
and ensures its security
• Facilitates communication and
collaboration across departments
The To-Do List Never Ends
Picture this: it was the middle of my work day. I was logging back into my desktop computer after lunch as I took a gulp of water from my Tampa Bay Lightning jug. Shamane was just getting into the office over at HQ, and I briefed her on her day. After our quick huddle, she headed off to the executive team meeting, and I conferenced in from the cozy remote office I rent here in Ohio.
I sifted through emails as I half-listened to the meeting in one headphone. If I remember correctly, they were discussing potential changes to our return/exchange policy. It seemed pretty intense. As I was finishing up a response to an email from one of our vendors, Shamane pinged me on Slack.
Awesome, just what I needed. I knew this message meant I’d be working late with IT at least one day this week. I invited Shamane to a Slack huddle to guide me through the updates. She then handed me a lengthy list of items to add to my to-do list. Just another day on the job!
A Day That Ended in Victory
The next day kicked off with a ton of activity. I remember that I was in a groove blasting my favorite song, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” in my office and was deep into knocking things off my to-do list when I received a message from Shamane. She asked me to put some time on her calendar to take the latest IT security training. I pulled away from what I was doing so I could get that done quickly and realized I no longer had access to her calendar. I let Shamane know.
She ended up not responding to my Slack message after a while, which I found odd, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. About 30 minutes later, I finally received an email from Shamane containing a link to her calendar and her new login credentials. The email looked different from her usual format, but I assumed she must have been busy at HQ and was just being brief. I clicked the link and used the credentials to set up shared calendar access before going on with my day.
The rest of the day flew by, but—of course—right before my daughter’s big soccer match, I hit another snag. I got a note from the IT team saying the Shopify update I requested would take four days to complete. Remembering Shamane’s urgency, I knew that wouldn’t work for her. So, despite my limited Shopify knowledge, I decided to tackle it myself.
As I finished the last of the updates, I realized I was running late for my daughter's match. In my rush, I emailed my login credentials to my personal email so I could try to finish it on my laptop at the field. I knew it was against protocol, but I thought it was a necessary exception just this once.
During half-time at the match, I decided to pull out my laptop to try to finish the update. It was such a loud atmosphere, and there were so many people around, but I was able to get it done! Thankfully, the public WiFi at the soccer field was super fast. I shut my laptop and celebrated my daughter’s win with her before going home to play video games with my two older ones.
It Was All Hands On Deck
That next day, I was cuddling with my dog, Biscuit, at home when I suddenly received an onslaught of messages from Shamane and other Shutter Pro staff members about the breach.
My body went into complete shock. Shamane called an emergency meeting with the executive team to find a quick solution for keeping our stores operational. I was instructed to work with IT to order Shopify mobile payment processors for each store. I knew I had to get them to the stores ASAP, so I expedited shipping through their website. It was pure chaos from there.
I felt guilty for being in Ohio while Shamane and the team tackled the majority of the crisis at HQ in San Francisco. I knew I should have been there with the team to help troubleshoot, so I decided to be more proactive the next day.
I headed to my nearest Shutter Pro store in Dublin, Ohio, to help the team manage hand-written payments until the new processors arrived. I brought along my favorite IT team member, MJ, who’s also local. She helped me brief the store staff on how to take payments when the new mobile processors arrive. The associates were excited, anticipating the opportunity to process transactions away from the store desk.
After a long day, I got back home and caught up on some reading while sipping on my favorite bourbon to unwind. As I sat there, my mind kept thinking back to the breach. Did I click a phishing email or log into an unsecured network? I mulled over the countless possibilities that night until my timer went off—it was time to pull my brisket out of the smoker. I was so excited about the brisket that I ended up forgetting about the breach for the rest of the night. Finally, sweet solace.