it really depends what it is and how you do it. people moving between firms may definitely take printouts of data or notebooks with information, etc. so they can come to a new firm and quickly replicate a model. obviously that's not really trackable. but if you email a bunch of models in excel to your personal address and leave the firm a few days later, odds are you'll be getting a few phone calls from the legal authorities. never heard of anyone getting caught, but everyone shows a lot more discretion in situations like that.

 
PowerMonkey:
A lot easier, and no way to track at all.

You sound like one of those dumb criminals they profile on Dateline / Dicsovery etc. First, many firms these days have software built in which encrypts all data such that anything transferred onto a removable device cannot be read on a non-native machine (at my previous firm, any data transferred from my office comp onto thumb drives would not open on my personal laptop.)

Second, any transfer of data from a machine onto a removable drive is trackable to the exact time / user (and then linked to who was sitting at that machine by the cams on the floor) at the click of a button. I am not suggesting that they WILL do it, but it is entirely in the realm of possibilities for the anal. Given your comments, I have to assume that you must be one of them Mac using liberal arts grads who doesn't have a clue about anything tech. Dont recommend tech-based criminal acts to others, and more importantly, anytime you feel an urge of doing something similar, DONT DO IT. Go against your urges, else your name will be in the newspapers like one of those dumb (but who thought they were really smart) analysts picked up by the feds.

Oh and OP, it all depends on your risk appetite. But honestly, most of these models are very much available outside. I got tons of models from friends when I was in school. I really doubt there is anything of sufficient importance that needs to be transferred out. And if you are not at an IB but an HF and have access to some proprietary model, my most sincere suggesion would be to not do it. Not worth it really.

 
jc_nyc:
You sound like one of those dumb criminals they profile on Dateline / Dicsovery etc. First, many firms these days have software built in which encrypts all data such that anything transferred onto a removable device cannot be read on a non-native machine (at my previous firm, any data transferred from my office comp onto thumb drives would not open on my personal laptop.)

That sounds like you made it up. I've seen USB ports disabled to stop you attaching removable drives but once transferred I've never seen them not opened.

jc_nyc:
Second, any transfer of data from a machine onto a removable drive is trackable to the exact time / user (and then linked to who was sitting at that machine by the cams on the floor) at the click of a button. I am not suggesting that they WILL do it, but it is entirely in the realm of possibilities for the anal. Given your comments, I have to assume that you must be one of them Mac using liberal arts grads who doesn't have a clue about anything tech. Dont recommend tech-based criminal acts to others, and more importantly, anytime you feel an urge of doing something similar, DONT DO IT. Go against your urges, else your name will be in the newspapers like one of those dumb (but who thought they were really smart) analysts picked up by the feds.

Now I know you are making it up. Which firm has cameras trained on every desk? (apart from SAC but they're special)

jc_nyc:
Oh and OP, it all depends on your risk appetite. But honestly, most of these models are very much available outside. I got tons of models from friends when I was in school. I really doubt there is anything of sufficient importance that needs to be transferred out. And if you are not at an IB but an HF and have access to some proprietary model, my most sincere suggesion would be to not do it. Not worth it really.
This bit makes sense. You are not being hired for the models that you have written in the past but the models you are going to write in the future. Use the opportunity to start with a clean slate.
 

in my limited comp sci background, i would vote that they cannot track that. windows does not record a history of file movement acorss directories so unless they have their internal monitoring software (?...would not be surprised though) then there would be no way to track that.

 

can't you guys access work email from home (webmail)? email it to your own work email then go home log on to your work email then save the files to your computer. If any one asks just tell them that you emailed the stuff to yourself for back up.

 
Best Response

If they had tracking software installed on my computer, or some weird encryption, then what you said would be true. However, on a normal Windows XP laptop without admin access, as long as they allow the use of USB based flash drives, there is nothing they can tell. Plus, in and of itself unless I put them on my drive on the very last day of work I would have every reason to have those files on a USB drive (barring any language in our technology code that prohibits that transfer of files to non-banking systems). If we actually used the systems that they want us to use at the bank that record file in and out times, and what computer accessed them, then yes they could possibly do the things you say. However, bankers are much too lazy and just email files around and keep them on their work laptops. Finally, I am not some Mac using liberal arts major, I am an ex-compsci man who saw the light and decided to make real money in banking.

Yes, you are at risk if you send yourself confidential information. But, unless you email material non-public information to yourself at your gmail account or some such thing, I wouldn't worry about it.

--There are stupid questions, so think first.
 

just email them to yourself over a period of time as to not look suspicious. you can always say you wanted to have a backup copy in case your work computer blew up.

also, every analyst i know has taken their models and other info with them. its not cause their new firms want that info, its moreso cause its easier to work off templates that you already built previously...not saying this is always the case.

and i thought most banks shut off the usb drive?

 

Without some sort of authentication system, you can use a thumb drive to take files off. Emailing them to yourself via gmail is probably the best, but then again for the ultra-cautious, you're probably better off establishing an encrypted ssh tunnel to a proxy to avoid any sort of detection behind their firewall at the gateway/proxy level.

I know this because I'm an EE/CS major.

 

First, remember what you're about to do is illegal. Not only for you to take the documents, but it is also illegal for you to use them when you arrive at your next employer. That said:

Do not use any form of internet transfer (rapidshare, email of any kind, etc) - this can all be traced, and I know people have lost their jobs for it.

Really the safest way is to use a USB stick. Bring a discrete, small one in and load it up when nobody is paying attention. Since you mentioned you're at a boutique, I really doubt they have installed software to limit/track this. Remember though, some of those PPTs can get pretty big, so make sure you have a large enough memory stick.

Oh yea - don't get caught.

  • Capt K
- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

Yea I agree with captk and nebanker... if you plan on using them as an example of work you have done in an interview, the interviewed is going to wonder why you have them, know full well that you probably shouldnt have them, and its probably (definitely) going to do you more harm than good. Don't take them, not worth it. If you want something to show, ask one of your superiors if there is anything that you can take with you, and if not, whatever.

NEVER lose your BlackBerry www.conveniencesoftware.com

 

There's no reason whatsoever to take them other than for you own personal interst, so if it is for any other reason do not take them. You will never be able to use them to help you get a job, as the poster above said anybody you show them to will immediately question why you have them and it will raise red flags. I've known of people taking stuff they developed at another bank (excel templates and stuff like that) when moving to a new job but that is a different story with some actual purpose. If you just want them for yourself just use a memory stick, as long as you do it discretely late in the evening you won't get caught.

 

Let's say you have an xls or ppt file and rename it doc/pdf/txt? It'd look strange if you tried to open it, and I'd bet trying to open a 5MB model in notepad would probably crash the poor program. Doubt it's worth it though.

 

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