GoDaddy, apparently not feeling the holiday vibes, pulled a pretty Grinchy move on some of its employees. And it’s not being well-received.
The web domain mega-company sent employees an email promising a holiday bonus, but it turned out to be a test for company staffers.
The email went out Dec. 14 to workers at the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company following a notification that there would be no end-of-the-year bonuses.
Local NBC affiliate 12News obtained the email.
“Happy Holiday GoDaddy! 2020 has been a record year for GoDaddy, thanks to you,” said the email, sent to about 500 employees.
It touted a $650 holiday bonus, but it was an internet security test primarily to see whether employees would fall for a phishing stunt.
In the past 12 months, GoDaddy has been victimized by data breaches and other scams.
“To ensure that you receive your one-time bonus in time for the Holidays, please select your location and fill in the details by Friday, December 18th,” the email said.
Employees who opened the email – failing the test – were invited to repeat their security training.
“You’re getting this email because you failed our recent phishing test,” Demetrius Comes, the company’s chief information security officer, wrote, according to the Copper Courier. “You will need to retake the Security Awareness Social Engineering training.”
The email comes just months after company CEO Aman Bhutani announced company-wide layoffs.
At a company town hall following the email exchanges, employees told higher-ups that the test was tone-deaf.
In a Daily Mail story, Data Doctors’ Ken Colburn stressed that these types of tests are important.
“Getting them to be really much more suspicious, that’s an important task. But doing it in a way that’s not going to upset the employees is equally important,” Colburn added.
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