How Long Has This Been Going On?

You'd expect an inspector general's computer, no less, to be sufficiently locked down. But Trentonian.com reported today that a government employee in Mercer County, N.J., accessed the computer of the county's inspector general to obtain and then disseminate information on another government employee. Marc A. Giessel, a 35-year-old information technology specialist, was indicted yesterday "on charges of unlawful access and disclosure of computer data, computer criminal activity, and official misconduct," the Web site reported. What's disconcerting is that the activity, which occurred from Aug. 9, 2007, and Jan. 24, 2008, didn't "come to light" until March 2008. No word on what uncovered the snooping, but it may be safe to say that someone stumbled across the evidence and discovered by non-electronic means, rather than being detected by the IT shop.