San Francisco Unable to Access Its Own Network

San Francisco's multimillion-dollar FiberWAN network, which is used to handle delicate information in regard to law enforcement documents and city payroll files, was hijacked by a 43 year old disgruntled employee. Terry Childs used to work for the city of San Francisco as a computer network administrator and it seems that no other admin can access the network because Childs has locked them all out. The only password that still works is his own, but the SFPD have yet to convince him to give it up. Childs has been taken into custody and is charged with four separate counts of computer tampering.

Ron Vinson, CAO (Chief Administrative Officer) with the SF Department of Telecommunication Information Services, comments: "It was a little unnerving to discover that this person had created this fiefdom of access to our network. We continue to monitor the system to make sure that we do maintain the integrity of the network. The issue at hand is the access codes that we are trying to get our hands around."

Of course, the city of San Francisco is working hard to regain control of the network, but since Childs does not want to cooperate, it might take some time. The authorities also believe that Childs has provided 3rd parties with network passwords.

What spurred the IT admin to resort to such actions? It seems that he had installed on the network special software that would inform him whenever modifications would be made to his personnel file. Recently his work performance had been evaluated as poor and disciplinary measures would have ensued.

Terry Childs is scheduled to appear in a court of law on Thursday, the 17th of July. If he is found guilty as charged, the court may issue a 7 year sentence. His bail has been set at $5 million. Keep in mind though that for a person charged with murder the bail is of just $1 million. It would seem that Childs is considered a bigger danger to society than a murderer.

Ron Vinson again: "He had the trump card and he could have brought everything down if he wanted to."