When a Bonus Dispute Triggers a Massive Cloud Outage: The Real Cost of Deleting Code

You never expect why programmers would delete code.

Earlier, a Weimeng employee deleted his company's database, wiping out over HK$30 billion in market value, and another case emerged where a programmer, angry over an unpaid bonus, modified Huawei Cloud's OBS object storage service code, causing a large‑scale outage and receiving a five‑month jail sentence.

1. No Reward, So Destroy It

The incident began in April 2020. Wang, a developer at a Shanxi network technology company, worked on a local‑city lifestyle service platform that handled online/offline food, drink, entertainment, and shopping services.

In March 2020, the platform was selected by the Jincheng Business Bureau to issue electronic consumption vouchers to consumers.

In December 2019, Liu, the technical manager, assigned Wang the task of developing OBS code, promising a reward upon successful completion.

Wang wrote the code, a colleague handled the front‑end, and after testing the system ran smoothly.

Expecting the bonus, Wang was shocked when the company set up layers of obstacles to withhold it.

Unable to tolerate the injustice, Wang decided to retaliate.

On April 13, 2020, around 11 am, Wang logged into the Huawei Cloud server via WinSCP using the root account, replaced the original PHP code with his own, causing users to download uncached images directly from the web server, leading to severe slowdown or crashes during peak times.

WinSCP is an open‑source graphical SFTP client for Windows that uses SSH. It supports SCP and provides basic file operations such as download, upload, rename, change attributes, and create symbolic links.

As expected, on April 14 between 8:00 and 9:30 am, when the platform attempted to distribute ¥760,000 in electronic vouchers, users reported the platform was inaccessible. The Jincheng Business Bureau also called to inquire about the outage. The company's deputy general manager and the technical team scrambled to diagnose the issue, eventually discovering the modified OBS code. By 9:30 am, the platform was restored.

The incident left 150,000 members unable to claim their vouchers.

The case went to court in September, and the Shanxi Jincheng District People's Court ruled that Wang had willfully altered computer information system code, violating system security and committing the crime of destroying a computer information system.

Wang was convicted of destroying a computer information system and sentenced to five months of detention with a six‑month probation period.

2. Why Do Programmers Keep Falling Into the “Delete‑Database” Trap?

Many developers have been caught deleting databases and facing legal consequences, yet the risk persists.

The low severity of punishment—up to five years for serious cases, but often much less—may be a factor; for example, the Weimeng employee received six years, while Wang received only five months.

Beyond legal leniency, the demanding work culture—long hours, high pressure, and uncertain career prospects—drives some programmers to act out of frustration.

Programmers often endure 996 work schedules and the threat of ICU, facing a reality where high salaries are limited to a small elite while most remain on the front lines writing code.

Reports such as “996.ICU” highlight the harsh realities of the tech industry, where rapid expansion leads to labor‑intensive development and burnout.

Therefore, companies should strengthen security safeguards and treat developers with greater respect to prevent such destructive retaliation.

References:

https://wenshu.court.gov.cn/website/wenshu/181107ANFZ0BXSK4/index.html?docId=e0315b5f3ccb4bb9974aac5b018632de

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Q48Q4gcIPHxDA7qxwPdyg

https://www.huxiu.com/article/293114.html