[kbenson]

I think that's the right way to view it. People are viewing this through the lens of their current employment, but that's assuming a lot. I did something somewhat similar (in type, if not scope) when I was young and in tech support. The notable facts at the time were that a) we were friends, b) the computers were customized by us, but for the most part interchangeable because a web browser was the software needed, which allowed us to install Linux if we wanted, and c) I didn't really hack it as much as use an admin account he gave me to help in do something on his box.

Friendship comes fast when you're in your early 20's and there's lots of free time to screw around. It's twenty years later now, and I probably wouldn't do that to any of my coworkers. I probably would do it to any of my siblings though. How invasive you can get away with a prank being without upsetting the person targeted is largely based on trust.

When I pranked my friend, the company we were at had probably 30 people working for it, and there were maybe 16 of us in tech support total. It's easy to trust others when you're such a small group, because you can actually know most the people you work with. If your company employs even hundreds of people, that's much harder to do.