A senior ExpressVPN executive's admission of working for a foreign intelligence service to hack US computers last week shocked the company's employees, according to Reuters interviews.
Some employees were further disturbed by what the company - which provides the virtual private network service on the Internet - said after the US Department of Justice's decision not to prosecute, as the company was aware of Dan Gerek's history as a mercenary hacker working for the UAE.
The company said it had no problem with the ex-intelligence agent protecting its clients' privacy, and was still giving him more responsibilities even as the FBI investigation was drawing to a close.
Crick was appointed director of technology last August, according to an internal email at the time, and he still holds that position.
Shortly after a court fined Gerek and two former CIA agents to agree not to conduct any secret activities in the future;
Gerek sent an email to his colleagues at ExpressVPN.
"I imagine that such news is surprising and even uncomfortable," Gerek said in the letter, which was obtained by Reuters, before assuring them that he had used his skills to protect consumers from threats to their security and privacy.
And when senior company executives decided - during a regular question-and-answer session with employees last Friday - to open the door to questions about the Jerick deal, and then discuss the announcement made a few days ago about the sale of the company to the British-Israeli company Cape Technologies for digital security programs;
The staff exploded in anger.
An employee wrote an anonymous message on an internal conversations page, saying, "This incident has undermined consumers' trust in our company regardless of the facts. How do we intend to rebuild our reputation?"
In response to a question about the controversy, the company said - in a statement - that this dialogue is part of a regular monthly session between management and employees.
A Reuters investigation in 2019 revealed how a team bearing the nickname "Raven", of which Crick was a member, helped the UAE monitor several targets, including human rights activists and journalists. The story did not mention Crick by name.