I started my fintech startup, HomeCrowd https://myhomecrowd.com/ in mid-2017 and later we obtained the regulator approval at the end of 2019. In addition, we secured our 1st pre-seed funding from SOSV (a global VC) and went to the Chinaccelerator (now Orbit Startup) accelerator programme in Shanghai from Sept to Nov 2019.
With the funding received we could afford to hire a core team to develop the business and MVP (early platform). Our 1st hire was tech lead/CTO – a senior software engineer with more than 10 year working experience specialized in Financial Services and fintech industry and also an entreprenueur himself. With his credentials presented to us, we thought he was good fit and hired him as our 1st employee with compensation of salary and generous company's shares (ESOP) from Jan 2020.
Unfortunately, he resigned without serving notice period after about 8 months with us and it was a real struggle to find a replacement back then. To our horror, we later found out that he has planted a lot of Trojan/backdoor codes (about 3 1/2 pages of A4 paper line of codes) in our platform after the 1st week he joined us and planted in single date and transaction. He was the only developer back then and set up the source codes repository, he suggested to us to use Gitlab which he is familiar with. Upon discovery of the Trojan codes, we engaged a cybersecurity firm and upon their investigation, they conclude/testified that it is Trojan/backdoor codes with malicious nature, as it was meticulously planted and 80% of the Trojan are hidden in favicon (favourite icon) files. Subsequently, we decided to rebuild the platform from scratch upon advise from our cybersecurity expert and advisor back then.
We filed a civil suit against him and brought him to the court to claim the damages we suffered - development cost, for the payroll and expenses incurred during his employment period as all the platform's work was corrupted and wasted on top of breach of notice period. After the long battle in the court, we got the verdict recently. To our shocking, the judgement that there was no evidence that the defendant planted and hidden the Trojan codes into our source codes and accepted the defendant’s excuse he was not aware of the such codes and lastly we suffered no damages. Despite that we have strong evidences that he planted it and he didn’t even remove it after he left (he was having access into our Gitlab for almost 1 year post-left) and yet we still lose the case. Some asked what's so big deal about the Trojan? It's not like a simple virus as it has the potential to hijack our platform for his personal gain according to our Expert.
After discussion with our Experts, lawyers and fellow founders, we decided to appeal for this case to Higher Court as we are in the view that the Session Court Judge may under appreciate the merits/ technical implications of the case especially the potential danger of the Trojan. We also believe we have evidence to mount an appeal against the decision. More importantly, it would set as a judicial precedence for future cases that’s it’s ‘legal’ to plant Trojan codes (without real attack). This is would be bad for our tech ecosystem especially our government is currently promoting Malaysia to grow as a Tech Startup Hub.
As our startup company has ran out of funding we seek your support for our cause as we have spent about RM50k for the total legal cost including cybersecurity investigation (1/2 coming from my own pocket). Your support is not just for HomeCrowd but for the integrity of the entire Malaysian tech industry.
Your contribution will help ensure that malicious cyber activities are recognized and penalized accordingly, reinforcing the security framework critical to the industry's growth and sustainability. We pledge transparency and will provide regular updates throughout the legal process.
Thank you for standing with us during this pivotal moment. Your support could shape the future of cybersecurity and legal standards in Malaysia, safeguarding our community against similar threats.
Note: The above key facts are presented to the Court with evidences
P/S : We have to use the abuse category as there's no label for legal fees yet
All the best!
MYR 100 07/01/2024 08:08:39 AM UTC
MYR 75 06/27/2024 09:22:43 AM UTC
MYR 50 06/17/2024 06:47:54 AM UTC
MYR 50 06/13/2024 06:33:36 AM UTC
MYR 75 06/12/2024 11:23:24 AM UTC
All the best
MYR 50 06/11/2024 04:16:16 AM UTC
Don't give up ya
MYR 50 06/05/2024 01:39:11 PM UTC
We can't have these bad players ruining the scene of start ups
MYR 50 05/30/2024 05:17:01 AM UTC
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Stay positive and wish you all the best
MYR 50 05/30/2024 04:15:06 AM UTC
Good Luck and never give up!
MYR 100 05/29/2024 12:06:26 AM UTC
all the best!
MYR 75 05/25/2024 02:08:32 PM UTC
all the best!
MYR 50 05/25/2024 01:02:08 PM UTC
MYR 75 05/25/2024 05:54:25 AM UTC
MYR 100 05/25/2024 01:07:43 AM UTC
All the best!
MYR 50 05/24/2024 06:46:22 AM UTC
Notes:
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