FDA employee dismissed after breaching system
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter, with CNA
A former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assistant was found to have exploited the agency’s document system, conducting 1,237 unauthorized searches and generating 89 fraudulent records, the FDA said, adding that they have been dismissed and referred to prosecutors for investigation.
A local Chinese-language digital news platform on Tuesday reported the case involving a former contract-base assistant, surnamed Wang (王), who worked at the FDA between March 2021 and March this year.
The FDA on Tuesday confirmed the case in a news release and said that the agency has zero tolerance for any unlawful or unethical behavior, and that it would fully cooperate with the ongoing legal proceedings.
The Food and Drug Administration sign is pictured on Tuesday.
Photo: Lo Pi, Taipei Times
The news platform said Wang had worked at the FDA’s Northern Center for Regional Administration and was responsible for official document handling, routing, delivery and tracking, and was familiar with internal document processing workflows.
Wang exploited a vulnerability in the document system to self appoint herself as manager, applying for extensions and signing off approvals, leaving behind 89 fraudulent records, between June 2023 and August last year, it said.
The former assistant also used the administrator’s privilege to access official documents that were not under their purview 1,237 times, it reported.
The news media outlet said that Wang had acted out of the interest of their coworkers who they said were being chased by document deadlines on a daily basis.
After conducting an investigation, the FDA said that Wang’s misconduct involved public information security risks and therefore immediately referred evidence to prosecutorial and investigative authorities, while Wang was dismissed and the employment contract terminated.
Prosecution authorities have indicted Wang, the FDA said.
Following this incident, the FDA immediately reviewed and strengthened the agency’s official document management system’s permission settings, proxy configurations and internal audit mechanisms, it said.
It said it would continue to enhance information security and internal management to prevent similar incidents.
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