Benefits December 20, 2002

'Twas The Federal Working Day Before Christmas

December 20, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - While the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) says an official decision is still pending, it looks unlikely federal employees will have Christmas Eve off this year, according to a GOVEXEC.com report.
Reported by

Last year Federal employees enjoyed an extra day of vacation when the President issued an executive order on December 5 granting the day off.   However, this year no such order has been seen, and according to a source at the OPM, the holiday day off is unlikely.

Historically, federal employees are only granted Christmas Eve off when it happens to fall on a Monday, as was seen in 2001.   The last time federal employees received a December 24 th off that was not on a Monday, Eisenhower was in office.   Since then Christmas Eve has fallen on a

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Tuesday six times, like this year, and federal employees have worked all six.

However, the report noted a Presidential stay at work does not preclude agency heads from closing early on Christmas Eve.

New Year’s Eve looks equally as busy for federal employees, as the president usually only gives the day off when it falls on a Friday.   The last time an extra non-Friday December 31 st was given off to federal employees was 1973. Not surprisingly, New Year’s Eve fell on a Monday that year.

Benefits December 19, 2002

Ex-UBS System Admin Charged In Virus Scam

December 19, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A former UBS PaineWebber system administrator is facing chares of sabotaging two-thirds of the company's computer systems to crash its stock price, according to a CNET News.com report.
Reported by

Roger Duronio, currently facing as much as 20 years in prison and fines of more than $1.25 million, is charged with one count of securities fraud and one count of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act after causing more than $3 million in damages when his “logic bomb” computer virus went off March 4, causing 1,000 of the company’s 1,500 computer to begin deleting files.

The indictment alleges that Duronio used the company’s secure network to plant “logic bombs,” destructive computer programs that are set to trigger at a specific time, with instructions to delete all the files stored on the systems at 9:30 am on every Monday in March, April and May of 2002.

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Duronio then left company on Feburary 22, 10 days before the first trigger date. Around the same time, Duronio purchased options to sell 31,800 shares of UBS stock at an average strike price of $42.91.

However, the alleged attack failed to have the desired effect, as UBS did not make it public at the time and the company’s stock didn’t fall below $45.

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