The interview process was going very well—everything was nice and conversational and I felt very comfortable with the process and very much enjoyed all conversations I had. However, after three rounds of interviewing (including an in-person interview which the hiring manager bailed from just the day beforehand) the hiring manager requested sensitive information/documents from my current job in order to see my "chops" and cut off contact entirely when I said that would not be possible due to my company's IT and document security policies. I offered to substitute with a case study or other exercise to show my "chops", since I regrettably work somewhere with rather draconian IT policies, but never heard anything back after that. In retrospect, massive red flag there to demand sensitive information from my current employer and then cut off all contact/interest entirely without explanation when I indicated that wouldn't be possible. Genuinely, I don't know how a business operates this way and still fancies itself reputable—truly questionable ethics to demand sensitive documents from a candidate; makes me wonder whether the interest was real or if they were just harvesting me for information about my company for prospecting on their end.