Tales from the Trenches:
Let's start with one of my favorites. I'm working in the SOC for a managed security services provider. Basically, we're tasked with making all the firewall and IDS/IPS rule changes, keeping everything updated and alive, etc., and the logs flowing to the analysts. Anyway, I get a call from a user one day.
"Your firewall isn't blocking popups!", he complains.
"Uh, yeah. To do that, we'd have to block all of tcp/80 outbound from your users. I think they'd complain," I said, hoping that it would end the conversation there.
"I know how it works! I'm a CISSP!" he sneers. [Oh, God. One of those. Do go on, please.] "I demand that you make that change in the firewall IMMEDIATELY."
"So, uh, Will, you know that an 'immediate' change counts as an 'emergency' change, and you only get one of those per month. Are you sure you want to waste that on something which will break your whole network?"
"Don't treat me like an idiot!" he bellows.
"Okey dokey. Well, to ensure that I have non-repudiation on this one, I need you to submit that as an emergency change request via PGP signed and encrypted email, 'cuz there's no way my boss will believe you asked for it otherwise."
I mean, how many ways can I make it clear this is a bad idea?
So, the email rolls in. I gleefully log into his SGS and axe tcp/80 outbound from all connections, reset the conn table, and wait for the phone to ring. Two minutes later - my MOBILE rings. It was my friend who happened to work at that customer's site.
"What, the f*** did you people do? My whole userbase is complaining they can't hit OWA on the Exchange servers!" So, I told him.
Five minutes later, SOC phone rings. It's Mr. CISSP's boss. He asks us to change it back. "I'd love to, man, but that would be a violation of our contractual agreement. We can put in a request, and it'll get changed within 24 hours. I'll put it as high in the queue as I can..."
"I really, really need you to do this for me. What'll it take?" he pleads.
"Sign Will up for some basic networking classes?" I suggest.
"Oh, I fired him before I called you."
"You should have opened with that." <clickety> "Fixed. You should be able to browse, now."
And they remained a happy customer for years after that.