Sarah Martinez, Operations Manager at Pinnacle Consulting, encountered her trickiest problem to date. Over a three-week period secret client proposals leaked to rivals just before big presentations. The security issue proved catastrophic—the company lost two major deals valued at $2.3 million.
Five team members could access the protected proposal folder: Tom (Senior Analyst) Lisa (Project Coordinator) David (Marketing Specialist), Rachel (Financial Advisor), and Mike (Client Relations Manager). Each boasted stellar credentials and a long history of faithful service.
Sarah began a subtle inquiry. The leaks happened on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2-4 PM. Security records indicated all five team members opened the folder during those times on days when leaks occurred. Apex Solutions, the competitor getting the leaked info now employed Jennifer Walsh, a former worker fired six months earlier due to job performance concerns.
As she looked into the matter, Sarah learned these facts:
Tom checked proposals during his 3 PM coffee break, a routine he’d kept up for two years. He made paper copies of every document using a yellow highlighter on certain parts. His workspace stayed tidy with orderly piles of printed proposals.
Lisa worked from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She opened files at about 2:30 PM in her home office. She joined online team meetings right after she looked at proposals. She often pointed to specific parts during talks.
David went to required marketing team meetings from 2-3 PM on both days. Meeting notes showed he always came and took part in coming up with ideas for future campaigns.
Rachel had set client calls from 1-2 PM on those days with her biggest customers. Her schedule was open to all, and coworkers often heard her lively phone talks through her office door.
Mike didn’t say much about his schedule. He said he looked at proposals “when he had time.” His emails to clients often said “let’s circle back on this” – his favorite work phrase. Unlike others, his printer logs showed no use on leak days, though he said he read all proposals . On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, his coffee mug was empty on his desk even though he said he “worked late looking at files those days.”
Sarah also found that Apex Solutions’ recent counter-offers had very specific answers to Pinnacle’s plans. Their pitch decks said “we should circle back to talk about putting this into action” – an unusual work phrase.
Can you identify the culprit and the key evidence that exposed them?
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SOLUTION:
Mike turned out to be the source of the leak. Three key pieces of evidence pointed to him:
Language patterns: His favorite saying “circle back” showed up in Apex’s counter-offers – this phrase was too unique and rare to be a fluke.
Odd behavior: He was the only one on the team who never printed out proposals when leaks happened even though he said he looked them over . This hinted that he might be looking at files on a screen to take pictures without leaving any paper traces.
Lies in his story: His empty coffee cup on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons didn’t match up with his claim of “staying late to go through files those days” – this showed he wasn’t working but getting into files for other reasons.
These tiny details proved Mike was getting his hands on secret files just to leak them, not to do his job .