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Forty ways of embezzlement

Individuals that man a nation’s government have followed well-known though not always well-understood trajectories for their lives, almost unchanged from ancient times. At one end are the conscientious workers, with moderate lifestyles and meager pensions, and at the other, those that exploit the system for ruthless personal gain and decadent lifestyles, and often neglecting their work to the detriment of others.

Despite comprehensive understanding of the psychological and sociological aspects of all this today – whether under democracy or dictatorship, left or right leaning, and in developed or developing economies, while the modes and appearances may vary – such misuse of position continues, often with impunity, despite laws and controls, and in some societies moral strictures being firmly in place.

In the last few decades, the problem has been compounded with the advent of computer networks, and you come across legendary tales of cyber-fraud – from those skimming decimals of cents, to those re-directing billions to their own accounts for personal gain. As much as greed, it is often said that the identity crisis of an anonymous government job prompts individuals to assert themselves in such a manner.

With the advent of technology for identity management, its deployment within governments is considered to be an important paradigm shift. However, with this has also come what is termed as the Online Dis-inhibition Effect, a syndrome that is now frequently observed on social media sites, of individuals faking themselves for their own or others’ appeasement.

Another critical aspect is that increasingly more vital military data as well as valuable business IP resides within computer networks. Hacking is one thing, but to willingly part with such information can be fatal and tragic for a nation and its people.

Beyond identity management, security solutions in the government are often configured around norms of human behaviour based on Game Theory. One such example goes by the popular name of the Prisoners Dilemma and is formulated thus: two prisoners of the same gang, arrested for the same crime, are held in separate cells, and each promised a different level of punishment if s/he testifies (or does not) against the other. Studies today thus measure typical human averages for connivance, altruism and selfishness, and explain why two keys to a safe (or two access codes in cyberspace) are safer than one, and help devise even more secure strategies in the real world. However, beyond this sophistication of information technology, tokens, biometrics and configuring them all as intelligently as possible, there is only the deterrence of harsh punishment, or social stigma – as in many countries like China and India.

The ultimate fear is that individual moral decadence of those trusted to protect, is how the final breakdown of the mightiest of empires often takes place. Similarly in cyberspace, nearly nine out of 10 crimes are committed by insiders. Can technology provide answers?

The question of effectively managing the right conduct of government employees in vast and far-flung bureaucracies has been meticulously addressed, in the ancient treatises of the old empires: in both China and in India. Shang Yang (390–338 BC) worked for Emperor Qin, and is probably represented as one of his many terracotta warriors. Chanakya (370-283 BC) worked for the powerful Maurya emperors of his time, and left behind a 15-volume magnum-opus on politics, economy and government – the Arthashashtra – and of which an entire book is dedicated to government employees. Among others, Chapter IX lists out 40 different ways of embezzlement in the government, and how one can prevent, control and punish many of them. The list reads astonishingly relevant even today. In these chapters are also the descriptions of paperwork, accounts, audits, seals and codes, and above all on the need for an indispensible network of spies and counter-spies.

In a world where some things change little – maybe there is a lesson for us all – today, and even for the cyberspace of tomorrow.

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