When Revenge Becomes a Crime: A Programmer’s OBS Sabotage Case

You would never guess why a programmer might delete code. Earlier this year, a Weimeng employee erased his company's database, wiping over HK$30 billion in market value, and a server outage lasted eight days, costing the company ¥150 million, allegedly due to personal debt and alcohol.

More recently, a programmer named Wang, born May 8 1995, retaliated after his request for a bonus on an OBS object‑storage service was denied. On April 13 2020, he logged into a Huawei Cloud server with a root account via FTP and modified the OBS code he had developed.

The alteration caused the platform to malfunction from 08:00 to 09:35 on April 14, preventing 11 225 members from receiving electronic consumption vouchers, damaging the platform’s reputation and user earnings.

Witness testimony

A deputy manager confirmed that the platform, a local life‑service e‑commerce site, experienced a failure when the OBS code was altered. After backup code was restored, the service resumed around 09:30.

Defendant’s confession

Wang admitted he deliberately changed the OBS code to disrupt service during peak hours as revenge for the denied bonus, using WinSCP and the root account to replace PHP files on the Huawei Cloud server.

The Jin‑cheng City People’s Court found Wang guilty of destroying a computer information system, citing his professional expertise and the serious impact on users. Considering his confession and willingness to accept punishment, he was sentenced to five months’ detention with a six‑month suspended sentence.

The case highlights the severe consequences of “deleting the database” for short‑term satisfaction and raises the question of why programmers repeatedly take such risks.

Many developers face relentless 996 work schedules, limited respect, and inadequate compensation, leading some to act out in retaliation.

Companies should strengthen security safeguards and give programmers the respect they deserve.

Source: Public account “业余草”.