S.F. officials locked out of computer network

S.F. officials locked out of computer network

www.sfgate.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- 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.

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.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 15-7-2008 by SystemiK]

Wow, this has got to be every network administrator's worst nightmare, a pissed off employee exacting revenge. The upside is that the system still seems to be functioning just fine. The downside is that the admins still have limited or no access to the system.

It'll be most interesting to see how this drama plays out...

www.sfgate.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think its funny myself. Id bargin with them. Id say either you give me very little jail time or suffer biatch. Funny funny funny.

An IT guy gone bad. What is this world coming to. You would think that a buy making 6 figures would be happy. He can tell his new cell mate Buba all about how they treated him bad.

He probably didn't fit the pidgeon whole the nutz running SF deemed appropriate for city employees, so they tried to get rid of him. I hope he crashes the system and leaves them holding the bag!

Zindo

I smell plea bargain!!!!

Just a small update here with a bit more background information. I found it interesting what his lawyer had to say:

Outside court, Jacobs suggested the case against Childs was overblown and the result of a misunderstanding, and called the $5 million bail "crazy."

"I don't think he's a threat," Jacobs said. "He didn't kill anybody, and murderers usually get a $1 million bail, so you do the math. Someone out there is really scared of something, and I don't know what that is."

Here is the link to the latest article from the SF Chronicle:
Link

At least when the techies go postal they have a tendency to take it out on the system rather than picking up an AK47.....

Normally I do not support these sort of actions. Now I think it is very funny. The chaos and changes destined to happen in that city will be enormous.

So the city is finally getting treated the way they treat people. Giving people what they feel the people deserve. The people pay for government. Now the government gets to feel what it is like to be on the other end.

This poor guy will a be terrorist now, I would assume.

Originally posted by SystemiK
Just a small update here with a bit more background information. I found it interesting what his lawyer had to say:

Someone out there is really scared of something, and I don't know what that is."

Hmmm...I wonder if he's trying to keep SF from covering up some illegal shenanigans...Maybe he just wants them to sweat until he gets into a court room to reveal what it is that they can't delete any more.
The article did mention that the staffs e-mails concerning Childs were part of what he locked them out of...Maybe that's what he's trying to preserve as evidence on his side of the argument.

But then again, considering that he claims they tried to fire him for personal reasons instead of official reasons may be just enough of a motive...That's illegal too. Something like that would be enough to tork off just about anyone.

[edit on 17-7-2008 by MidnightDStroyer]

I hope thats the new standard for employee payback to the boss and cronies.

Those big bosses must have been falling all over themselves after being locked out of there petty fund accounts.

Hail the new IT god.

Hopefully this is the final nail in the coffin of the trap of having every record preserved digitally. Not to sound like a total ludite or anything, but you're an idiot if you don't keep hard copies... by which I mean black-and-white paper printouts... of all your records.

What does this system control, on the whole? It would be interesting to see the consequences of it being completely hijacked if it, say, controlled traffic lights, EMS, telephone routing, power supply... any one of a number of vital services.

No one builds a huge computer network without using it for something.

Edit: Criminal records, eh? I wonder how much one would pay to have theirs erased... or to have fake ones created. That would be an interesting economy indeed.


[edit on 17-7-2008 by Ephiram-Lo]

Originally posted by Ephiram-Lo
No one builds a huge computer network without using it for something.

Let's not forget it is the government of a large city. They will build something just because they can.

I am glad it is pointing out how bad an idea it is for one person to be given or able to gain complete control. This is a hoot.