新編劍橋商務(wù)英語高級unit7a
J = Jill O = Oliver R = Rick
J Good morning. Sorry I'm a little late. How did the board meeting go yesterday?
O I didn't know there was a board meeting planned for yesterday.
R There wasn't. It was an emergency meeting.
O Emergency? Sounds exciting. What's the problem?
R That's what we're here to talk about this morning. Close the door, would you Jill?
J Yes, of course.
R Thanks. Right, as you may know, we've lost several major contracts this year to Centronics, our biggest rival. Each time they've targeted the customer just as their contracts were up for renewal.
J Are you saying they've somehow got access to our files?
R Well, one of our customers was still loyal enough to inform us that Centronics seemed to have god information about the terms and conditions of their contract with us.
O But surely, you don't think that someone's passing on that kind of information?
R We don't know. That's the problem. And that's what we've got to find out. If there genuinely is a problem, then we'll have to find out whether Centronics has infiltrated us or whether it's an inside job. So, we need to look at our systems and our people - and that's why you're both here.
O So, what did you have in mind, Rick?
R Well, first of all, Oliver, could someone have hacked into our intranet from outside?
O Hack into the intranet? I doubt it. We've got pretty up-to-date security on the system.
J Which means it's probably on inside job, right? Any ideas who it might be?
R If I knew that, we wouldn't be here. So, we'll need to check out everyone who's joined us in the last 12 months.
J The last 12 months? You don't think Centronics has placed a spy here, do you?
R I'm not sure what to think, Jill. But we should check out their CVs anyway.
J But it'll take ages if we do that. Beside, their references would have been checked at the time anyway.
R I know, but what about their previous employers? Were they checked?
J Well … we … we don't normally …
R Exactly. I think it'd also be a good idea if you looked back at your appraisal records. See if you can find anyone who's disgruntled or making noises about wanting more money …
J Do you mean for the whole company or just Sales?
R Well, start with Sales and then keep looking if you don't find anything. We've got to be thorough on this one. The board's taking it very seriously. Oliver, on the systems side of things, what can we do?
O Well, I guess the first thing is to look at access. You know, see who's got access to what information.
R Could you report back to me on that as soon as possible?
O Sure. And I suppose I could also issue individual passwords so …
R That's true. And then we'd know exactly who was logging on, wouldn't we?
O And what they were looking at and when they were logging on.
J How about e-mail? Can we check people's e-mail?
O No problem, it's all automatically archived on the server. I'll get printouts for you, Rick.
J And if I could see them, too, I could see who's dissatisfied and have a look at their appraisal notes and their personal record file.
O OK.
J That way I should be able to get an idea as to whether anyone's bearing a grudge.
O Good idea, Jill. OK, do that. But make sure you do it discreetly. If word got out about this, then whoever's doing it would stop and destroy the evidence.
J That's true. It wouldn't do much for morale either.
O Which is already low enough around here at the moment.
R Yes, this isn't exactly what we needed right now, is it?
J What if we don't come up with anything, what are we going to do then?
R The board's thinking about bringing in a security consultant. She'd pose as a temp in the Sales Department - you know, talk to people and get the gossip, find out who's unhappy and that kind of thing.
J But I don't see the point. How would she be able to find out anything that we couldn't?
O And it'd certainly go down well in sales if they found out about it.
R Yes, well … Let's just hope it doesn't come to that.
