Author Topic: Computer Engineer Locks S.F. Officials Out Of Main Computer Network  (Read 378 times)

Offline Sundowner

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Seems they messed with the wrong IT guy this time.  :rofl

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/14/BAOS11P1M5.DTL
A disgruntled city computer engineer has virtually commandeered San Francisco's new multimillion-dollar computer network, altering it to deny access to top administrators even as he sits in jail on $5 million bail, authorities said Monday.

Terry Childs, a 43-year-old computer network administrator who lives in Pittsburg, has been charged with four counts of computer tampering and is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Prosecutors say Childs, who works in the Department of Technology at a base salary of just over $126,000, tampered with the city's new FiberWAN (Wide Area Network), where records such as officials' e-mails, city payroll files, confidential law enforcement documents and jail inmates' bookings are stored.

Childs created a password that granted him exclusive access to the system, authorities said. He initially gave pass codes to police, but they didn't work. When pressed, Childs refused to divulge the real code even when threatened with arrest, they said.

He was taken into custody Sunday. City officials said late Monday that they had made some headway into cracking his pass codes and regaining access to the system.

Childs has worked for the city for about five years. One official with knowledge of the case said he had been disciplined on the job in recent months for poor performance and that his supervisors had tried to fire him.

"They weren't able to do it - this was kind of his insurance policy," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the attempted firing was a personnel matter.

Authorities say Childs began tampering with the computer system June 20. The damage is still being assessed, but authorities say undoing his denial of access to other system administrators could cost millions of dollars.

Officials also said they feared that although Childs is in jail, he may have enabled a third party to access the system by telephone or other electronic device and order the destruction of hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents.....

This reminds me of another incident when a computer geek locked the powers-that-be out of their computer system:  :lol
I wonder if the S.F. computer guy's password was as extensive as this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNrWgjh9tnU&NR=1

Regards,
Sun
Freedom implies risk. Less freedom implies more risk.

Offline CAP1

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Re: Computer Engineer Locks S.F. Officials Out Of Main Computer Network
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2008, 10:49:49 AM »
so they set his bail at 5 million...but i've seen rapists and murderers bail set much lower........



scary
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Offline Yossarian

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Re: Computer Engineer Locks S.F. Officials Out Of Main Computer Network
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2008, 10:53:19 AM »
@ Sundowner:

Oh har-de-ha-de-har de ha.

You really should learn to:

  • get a better sense of humour
  • not hold grudges as much.

<S>

Yossarian
« Last Edit: July 15, 2008, 11:04:25 AM by Yossarian »
Afk for a year or so.  The name of a gun turret in game.  Falanx, huh? :banana:
Apparently I'm in the 20th FG 'Loco Busters', or so the legend goes.
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Offline CAP1

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Re: Computer Engineer Locks S.F. Officials Out Of Main Computer Network
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2008, 11:02:54 AM »
Oh har-de-ha-de-har de ha.

You really should learn to:

  • get a better sense of humour
  • not hold grudges as much.

<S>

Yossarian

no grudges........... :D
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Offline Yossarian

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Re: Computer Engineer Locks S.F. Officials Out Of Main Computer Network
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2008, 11:05:21 AM »
Sorry, that was directed at Sundowner, but your post sort of got in the way... :P

Edited my previous post to clarify that  :)
<S>

Yossarian
Afk for a year or so.  The name of a gun turret in game.  Falanx, huh? :banana:
Apparently I'm in the 20th FG 'Loco Busters', or so the legend goes.
O o
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| IMMA FIRIN' MAH 75MM!!!
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Offline Sundowner

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Re: Computer Engineer Locks S.F. Officials Out Of Main Computer Network
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2008, 11:12:49 AM »
Well, if that's not funny how about this one?:

Banking can be dangerous...if you are not very smart. :P
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/07/15/vo.trailer.crash.wfaa

Regards,
Sun
Freedom implies risk. Less freedom implies more risk.

Offline CAP1

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Re: Computer Engineer Locks S.F. Officials Out Of Main Computer Network
« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2008, 11:20:06 AM »
Well, if that's not funny how about this one?:

Banking can be dangerous...if you are not very smart. :P
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/07/15/vo.trailer.crash.wfaa

Regards,
Sun
:O :O
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Offline BMathis

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Re: Computer Engineer Locks S.F. Officials Out Of Main Computer Network
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2008, 11:48:06 AM »
Well, if that's not funny how about this one?:

Banking can be dangerous...if you are not very smart. :P
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/07/15/vo.trailer.crash.wfaa

Regards,
Sun

OMG! That's insanely stupid of the driver.  :O
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Offline ariansworld

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Re: Computer Engineer Locks S.F. Officials Out Of Main Computer Network
« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2008, 06:11:29 PM »
Well, if that's not funny how about this one?:

Banking can be dangerous...if you are not very smart. :P
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/07/15/vo.trailer.crash.wfaa

Regards,
Sun

ROFL!!!!! I wonder what he will tell his insurance company.

Offline REP0MAN

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Re: Computer Engineer Locks S.F. Officials Out Of Main Computer Network
« Reply #9 on: July 15, 2008, 06:36:17 PM »
If he lived....

 :O
Apparently, one in five people in the world are Chinese. And there are five people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my mum or my dad. Or my older brother, Colin. Or my younger brother, Ho-Chan-Chu. But I think it's Colin. - Tim Vine.