Societe Generale Goat Gets IT Consulting Job

The man who caused one of the worst security breaches in the history of the world now has a new job: He's an IT consultant.

Jerome Kerviel is accused of breaking into computer systems to make risky trades that cost Société Générale more than $7.7 billion. Now, he's working at Lemaire Consultants & Associés, a consultancy specializing in IT network installation and security, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Kerviel started his new gig weeks ago, shortly after his release from more than a month in prison, according to his lawyer. An LCA employee confirmed Kerviel works for the firm, but declined to discuss the nature of his employment.

Kerviel violated a number of security policies and broke through multiple layers of security in order to gain the access he needed to make huge financial trades that ended up losing money for the bank. He did not profit personally from the deals, but said he was only trying to help the bank. (See Societe Generale: How Did It Happen?)

Accounts of Kerviel's maneuvering won him admiration by Internet fans who hailed him as a "Robin Hood" and a genius worthy of the Nobel Prize in economics.

Kerviel landed his job at LCA thanks to his legal team, according to his spokesman, Christophe Reille. One lawyer introduced him to LCA founder Jean-Raymond Lemaire, who hosted Kerviel at his house when the trading scandal erupted and journalists tried to track down the former trader. Lemaire then offered Kerviel a job as an IT consultant, Reille said.

A bank spokeswoman said Kerviel has been formally dismissed. Reille said the trader's lawyers are contesting his dismissal from the bank.

— Tim Wilson, Site Editor, Dark Reading