My contract was terminated early...

[ratewhore]

Plus of course your contract will state the contractor has the skills to carry out the work to a professional standard. But then, it would also state that any substandard work will be recitified at the contractors expense so it may be worth trying to offer to rectify any mistake made to keep the relationship alive.

Devils in the detail of course...

[sb5spa]

contract

Indeed there is the issue of what he did wrong as even if there is no written contractual term there is an implied term that the contractor will be able to supply the contractual services to a reasonable standard. If he has truly cocked up then he is not only probably not entitled to be paid but he would also be liable in damages for any foreseeable losses suffered by the company.

[Lucifer Box]

Yes, absolutely. But unless the fellow seeking advice is prepared to reveal what he did, there's not much advice that can be given.

[meanman]

what I did wrong

I was doing some post 2K3 migration support work which basically involved solving problems for a hashed up migration (I was not involved in the migration). I granted permission for a group to have access to their files (stored on a server) and their files only. The users were then able to work. Then a bit later on these users were unable to work again. Apparently they executed a script on the server to solve the file/folder security problems across the domain - which did not work. I went back up and granted them the permissions again. The next day they told the agency that I breached a security policy. But I dont think they even had a security policy, and even if they did, I wasn't shown it. The termination clause was immediate notice from their side and no notice from my side.

[cojak]

Hmm. Bit of a sh1t's trick pointing the finger at you when they did something worse. Still - did you ask about their security policy? You'd have been protected if you had and they said "no".

Asking about security issues is a bit of a 101 question when you're looking at granting access permission. The user's also commited an offense but have successfully deflected the blame onto you.

I think you might have to chalk this one up to experience/lessons learnt and all that.

And get yourself onto a BS7799 certification course.

Cojak: going though auditing as we speak...

[Lucifer Box]

I was doing some post 2K3 migration support work which basically involved solving problems for a hashed up migration (I was not involved in the migration). I granted permission for a group to have access to their files (stored on a server) and their files only. The users were then able to work. Then a bit later on these users were unable to work again. Apparently they executed a script on the server to solve the file/folder security problems across the domain - which did not work. I went back up and granted them the permissions again. The next day they told the agency that I breached a security policy. But I dont think they even had a security policy, and even if they did, I wasn't shown it. The termination clause was immediate notice from their side and no notice from my side.

That's a bit sh1tty but there's no way the client is going to have you back and there's little point making a song and dance about it. Your contract says "instant termination, no notice or reason required" and that's what they've done. Go quietly and gracefully, send the agent an invoice for the couple of days you did, and chalk that one up to experience. Never, ever carry out network admin tasks without insisting on seeing the client's security policy. If they don't have one, tell them you require them to indemnify YourCo first.

Bad luck, but it sounds like you're better off out of there anyway.

P.S.
Don't sign a contract that enables you to be terminated at no notice without reason given if you're not going to be happy when that happens. These things are all negotiable with the agent and you should do so, especially given that YourCo had no right to terminate at all.

[ratewhore]

and don't forget - buy PI insurance, although I can tell you if you're in the infosec game (as I am) then check the fine print as not all insurers cover security specialists.

[cojak]

I don't think he is rw (but he might be now ) else he wouldn't have got into the mess he's in at the moment...

[ratewhore]

I don't think he is rw (but he might be now ) else he wouldn't have got into the mess he's in at the moment...

Ouch - those nails have been sharpened since your pic was taken...