S.F. officials locked out of computer network

[xor]

Network held hostage by rogue employee. S.F. officials locked out of computer network

Anyone know this guy?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAOS11P1M5.DTL

xor

[Greyhatter]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

Network held hostage by rogue employee. S.F. officials locked out of computer network

Anyone know this guy?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAOS11P1M5.DTL

xor

Age 43, only 5yrs there, and 150k a year, nice! I've heard that SF gov't has been overly corrupt the last few years. I hope Child's is working for the Michael Savage legal team. I'd pay money to see this guy leak to Michael about the goings on in this city gov't! Go Frisko Hacker! Go Michael Savage! Take back the bay! Take back your city!

[cereal76]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

Well, gave the mayor the credentials to take back control:

http://www.darknet.org.uk/2008/07/sa...f-the-network/

[theprez98]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

Well, gave the mayor the credentials to take back control:

http://www.darknet.org.uk/2008/07/sa...f-the-network/

And he didn't even demand a "get out of jail free" card?!

[Greyhatter]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

Well, gave the mayor the credentials to take back control:

http://www.darknet.org.uk/2008/07/sa...f-the-network/

Control freak my ass. Childs knows something. Perhaps allot of something! Would only give back control to the mayor? If the mayor is corrupt too, then what Childs did is tantamount to giving the keys back to his captor. Hope this gets interesting and a whole lot of sewage in SF gov't floats to to top.

[xor]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

I tend to wonder about anyone who has the chance to live and work in SF and instead choses Pittsburgh, PA. It's just so wrong on so many levels. Then again $150k a year really isn't squat in SF. It definitely buys you a lot more in Pittsburgh.

I miss seeing the mountains out my window. Though I do have a great view of a Verizon CO right next store. If I wasn't such a slacker I would get a telescope and look in the window at all the terminals I see there. Yes I live next store to a Pheaker wet dream. :-).

xor

[Greyhatter]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

Then again $150k a year really isn't squat in SF. It definitely buys you a lot more in Pittsburgh.

xor

Yea, I thought about this afterward too, but then where and how one lives might make $150k ay (for an IT job) lucrative living in some rural parts of SF. No doubt that 150k in Pittsburgh goes a bit further. I'm guessing the majority of IT jobs, especially at city gov'ts rates, fall well below $150k ay.

[xor]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

So can anyone get the list of the 150 user names and passwords filed into public records by the DA in this case. I just want to see them for kicks and giggles statistical analysis. I don't see how after everything is said and done that SF is going have to change their whole network topology as it's going to get published into public record..

People are already complaining that their vpn's have stopped working.

Yes, searching myself but just coming up with news stories of the fact so far myself.

xor

Yes, the more I search the more I shake my head. This guy in many of the user commented pieces is starting to look like the savior of the SF network. From 1,100 ("modems"...?) and or other network devices not accounted for by the city or otherwise installed by Childs this is getting rich. Both the mainstream press and the SF government are showing just how little they understand this material.

The good news for us, I feel an IT hiring surge is going to start in SF soon. Either that or they are going to have to bring in someone from the outside. Consultants warm up those quoting computers.

[Thorn]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

This case cropped back up yesterday. According to Computerworld: "San Francisco hunts for mystery device on city network | It was apparently installed by accused rogue network admin Terry Childs"

http://www.computerworld.com/action/...ce=rss_topic17

What made me chuckle was that the "mysterious networking device hidden somewhere on the network" is <gasp> (are you ready for this?) <gasp!> a "terminal server". No wonder they're after the bastard! A terminal server! How dare he!

[streaker69]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

I know, res'ing a dead thread, but there's some news here:

http://infoworld.com/d/the-industry-...urys-hands-248

Closing arguments concluded Monday in the city of San Francisco's case against Childs, the network administrator charged with violating California hacking laws by refusing to hand over network passwords for the city's FiberWAN during a 12-day period in 2008.

Hopefully there was at least one competent IT type person on his jury that can help the other jurors understand the technical aspects of this.

[TheCotMan]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

I know, res'ing a dead thread, but there's some news here:
...

For anyone that follows such things, this (above) example is a great example of how the value posted to a thread can be proportional to the age of the thread; the older the thread is, the better the value should be in a post or reply.

Stickies can be an exception, so long as the content is on topic, like the suggestions on books,or the suggestions on how to become a security professional.

Good find streaker. Thanks for the update. :-)

[Thorn]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...?taxonomyId=17

By Robert McMillan
IDG News Service
April 27, 2010

Terry Childs, the San Francisco network administrator who refused to hand over passwords to his boss, was found guilty of one felony count of denying computer services, a jury found Tuesday.

Childs now faces a maximum of five years in prison after jurors determined that he had violated California's computer crime law by refusing to hand over passwords to the city's FiberWAN to Richard Robinson, the chief operations officer for the city's Department of Technology and Information Services (DTIS).

Although the city's network continued to run, San Francisco went 12 days without administrative control of the FiberWAN, and that constituted a denial of service -- illegal under state law.

Childs' lawyers had argued that he was a buttoned-down, security-obsessed administrator who believed he was simply doing his job.

[...]

[hexjunkie]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

http://www.networkworld.com/news/201...lains-why.html

its the same as on slashdot, but the guilty verdict makes more sense now.

[TwinVega]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

Hopefully there was at least one competent IT type person on his jury that can help the other jurors understand the technical aspects of this.

From the article directly above this^

Juror # 4, also known as Jason Chilton. In addition to having listened to countless hours of courtroom testimony, he also happens to be a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) and a senior network engineer with payroll administrator Automatic Data Processing. (ADP)

[streaker69]

Re: S.F. officials locked out of computer network

From the article directly above this^

Obviously there's no way I could have known that when I posted it as they didn't say who the jurors were when I posted that article.

I don't know if this is true or not, but I did hear that guy was holding up the jury process by arguing points, and was then removed and finally the jury could come to a decision.

I do understand his point, yes what he did was wrong, but I think the whole thing was an issue of mis-communication and severe interpersonal issues between him and his bosses. Hopefully the judge gives him probation.