Rolling my neck to relieve some tightening muscles, I asked, “Ms. Dupree’s password was used only for the final download of files, correct?”
“Yep. Her password. Her computer station. Her KEL drive. Her handprint on her biometric pad. How she was involved with the earlier downloads is unknown, at least based on digital records.”
“Without getting into the specific files themselves, Mr. Gunther, and do not describe them, I want to follow up regarding Dr. Patel’s earlier testimony. You were not able to determine which research files were taken during that final download, yes or no?”
Nielsen shot up from his chair. “Objection. The court has already ruled on the protective order, and counsel is attempting to circumvent it.”
Judge Arnetti looked at us over her reading glasses. “That objection is overruled, based on the phrasing of the question. Mr. Gunther, the court has determined that no witness can disclose proprietary information on the record. You will not describe the contents of files in any manner, but you can answer ‘yes or no’ if you identified what files were purportedly taken. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand,” Gunther replied, “and I wouldn’t disclose anything anyway.”
“Then you may answer,” Judge Arnetti said.
Gunther meshed his fingers. “No, we’re not sure, not yet. They covered their tracks. We found proof of unauthorized access, but we haven’t identified which files were stolen.”
“You’re certain those files belonged to Benton Dynamics?”
The witness paused longer than expected as he seemed to drift deep into thought. “Well, we’ve got a closed system, so it had to be.”
“You testified earlier that Marisa Dupree had her own password and only she used it, correct?”
“Employees are forbidden from sharing passwords with co-workers.”
“But do they ever share them?” I asked.
“Objection,” Nielsen growled as he stood up.
“Sustained,” Judge Arnetti said.
I asked, “Who assigns passwords to employees at Benton Dynamics?”
Gunther furrowed his brow. “Not sure what you mean.”
“Well, do employees pick their own or are they assigned?”
“They get an initial password from our department, but then they can change it. Personalize it. A minimum of ten characters. A password must contain uppercase letters, lowercase letters, at least one number, and a symbol. You know, like an ampersand or a percentage sign. That’s not all. There’s a biometric pad to read employee fingerprints and palm prints to access an employee computer.”
“And your cybersecurity team has records of passwords?”
“Yeah, of course.”
I leaned against the podium. “So if Benton Dynamics needed to get into her workstation while she was away, maybe out sick for the day or on vacation, could you do that?”
“Of course. Cybersecurity has a master copy of passwords, and we can otherwise get in, if we have to. Bypass all that.”
“So Ms. Dupree was not the only person with her password. Your department had it and could’ve gained access to her computer?”
Gunther shrugged. “I suppose so, but we didn’t. There’d be a digital record, if that happened. Ms. Dupree entered her password into her computer. She used her encrypted KEL drive. Her handprint was on the biometric pad. The forensic exam did not show anyone from our department ever accessed her computer on the day of the theft.”
“And you record access to each biometric pad somehow, right?”
“That’s right. Standard procedure.”
“The last download originated directly from her workstation?”
“That’s right,” Gunther admitted.
“And Cybersecurity can bypass the biometric pad, if needed?”
“Sure, but we didn’t. Our records showed that only Ms. Dupree’s handprint was used.”
“Other than your staff, does anyone else have access to employee passwords?”
“Well, senior supervisors are also permitted to keep a list as a back-up. Some do. Some don’t.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
I let the silence of the courtroom linger in the air before asking my next question. “Who was Ms. Dupree’s senior supervisor at the time of the unauthorized downloads?”
“Richard Kostas.”
“Did Mr. Kostas have a list of employee passwords?”
Nielsen stood up and said, “Objection, Your Honor. Relevance.”
“Overruled,” Judge Arnetti replied. “But let’s move this along, Mr. Seagraves.”
Turning toward the bench, I said, “Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Gunther, did he have a list?”
“Not that I know of,” Gunther said. “He was terminated just before I came on.”
“Did your security team search for a list?”
“Yes, of course. Didn’t find any. Not on paper or his desktop.”
“And Ms. Dupree’s handprint was used on a biometric pad to access her computer?”
Gunther smiled triumphantly. “Exactly right. Ms. Dupree’s handprint.”
“How often do employees need to press their hands on the pad to use their computers?”
“Initial access when they start for the day, and as long as they remain on the system, that’s it. But if they go inactive, they have to put their hand on the pad again.”
I rubbed my eyes. “How long before the computer determines it’s inactive?”
“Twenty minutes. Then they’ve got to touch the biometric pad again.”
Flipping a page of my legal pad, I asked, “What was the day of the final unauthorized download, the one from Ms. Dupree’s computer?”
“October 11.”
“What time of day?”
Without hesitation, Gunther replied, “Twelve-fourteen in the afternoon until twelve-twenty. That I know stone cold from the forensic exam. A total of six minutes. That was all she needed.”
During trial preparation in my office on Monday, Marisa had outlined her daily routine. For the first time in the case, I knew that she was innocent. She was not there during the theft. She was away from her workstation at her painting class. The only question was whether I could prove it. We were far into this hearing, and time was running out.
Facing the judge, I said, “I ask for the court’s indulgence, Your Honor.”
Judge Arnetti nodded at my request for a delay, but she said nothing.
I leaned toward Marisa and whispered, “Every day at noon, you and your co-workers took some kind of painting class, right? You went into a side room during your lunch break and painted landscapes, right? Write down your friends’ names and numbers and give them to Hailey, okay?”
Marisa nodded.
I put my hand on the rail and quietly said to Hailey in the front row, “Take Marisa’s list of co-workers and call them, but
