Two N.C. Central employees and one N.C. State employee either resigned or have been fired after admitting to state investigators that they illegally downloaded music, photos and movies, some of which were pornographic, on work computers, according to a state auditor’s report released today.
The Data Base Administrator and Information Technology Manager at N.C. Central University and the Operations and Systems Analyst at N.C. State were the employees under investigation; their names were not released in the report.
According to the report, the Data Base Administrator told investigators that he used university networks because “the larger bandwidth provided faster downloads.” He estimated he downloaded pornographic materials on a “semi-regular basis,” but said he didn’t know of a university policy prohibiting it. However, he acknowledged he did know the state had such a policy.
The IT Manager told investigators that pornographic images were on his N.C. Central University laptop because he had to verify content of e-mail spam. However, he could not explain the 68 hits to the site Nudetube.com on his university computer.
Investigators also learned the Data Base Administrator had misstated his qualifications on his employment application. He reported he had completed a computer science degree with 108 semester hours of credit from an out-of-state university; however, investigators confirmed he had completed only 52 hours and did not receive a degree.
The auditor’s office launched the N.C. Central investigation after Chancellor Charlie Nelms reported the misuse to the UNC System’s General Administration. In its response to the investigation, the university said it hired a company to assess the integrity of the computer systems; the company found no threats or damage to the university network.
As for the N.C. State systems analyst, investigators estimate he may have downloaded as many as 400 movies, some of them pornographic, since his hiring in 2006. He is a former N.C. Central employee. He conceded to investigators that downloading the materials was “unauthorized,” “illegal” and an “inappropriate use” of state computers. In addition, after he was placed on investigatory leave, he kept the university-issued laptop for two days, when he used a software program to try to destroy the files in question.
N.C. State’s internal auditors are investigating the integrity of the network; no breaches have been reported, the university said in the report.
Both universities told investigators they are implementing additional personnel training and oversight.
The case against the employees is being referred to the U.S. Attorney General’s office, the State Bureau of Investigation and the appropriate county district attorneys.
