San Francisco Admin Charged With Hijacking City's Network
SAN FRANCISCO -- A California judge on Tuesday continued the $5 million bail for a San Francisco city worker accused of hijacking the city's computer system, and ordered the network administrator to enter a plea on Thursday.
Terry Childs, 43, is accused of locking out the city from its FiberWAN network containing city e-mails, payroll, police records, information on jail inmates -- it was virtually an all access pass to City Hall. He was arrested Sunday after refusing to hand over passwords to the Wide Area Network system he is accused of taking control of illegally.
"He had the trump card and he could have brought everything down if he wanted to," said Ron Vinson, deputy director of the city's Department of Technology Information Services, who said the city's network has continued functioning without a hitch.
Erica Derryck, a spokeswoman for San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, said the defendant, who faces four felony charges of computer tampering, was a "threat to public safety."
Childs' bail was set five times higher than most murder defendants' because the authorities feared that, if released, he might permanently lock the system and erase records. "There is a real fear of that," Vinson said.
The FiberWAN network system is the major backbone of city government's computing infrastructure, connecting hundreds of different departments and buildings to a central data center, and to each other. The FiberWAN system carries more than 60 percent of the network traffic of all city government, Vinson said.
Childs has worked as a computer technician with the city for five years. He earned $126,000 in base pay last year, in addition to another $22,500 for being on-call to assist with network malfunctions.
Vinson said the city's data system has been functioning without error since it was discovered Sunday that the city had lost control of the bulk of its network.
"We couldn't access it, but it was functioning," Vinson said. "We now have the necessary devices in place that will detect any intrusions."
Vinson said the city was working to restore total access. "Every city department uses our fiber line," he said. "We are in the process of making sure we have complete access."
He said it was "unclear" whether the defendant actually accessed or stole any data, although he had the keys.
"He created it so that he had access to the network and blocked other people from having access," Vinson said. "He created his own passwords."
Weeks ago, he said, the city was doing a threat assessment of its infrastructure and "there were some things that were suspicious from our department's standpoint."
The department figured out that the defendant allegedly "had unauthorized access to passwords of the network and he was denying access to those that were authorized," Vinson said.
He said he couldn't "speculate on any motive," but city officials said he was disgruntled, and his job was in jeopardy.
Vinson said the defendant on Sunday gave police passwords to the system, but they did not work.
Childs appeared briefly Tuesday before San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Paul Alvarado, who ordered him to enter a plea on Thursday. Childs, wearing a bright orange jail suit, did not address the court.
Outside of court, his attorney, Mark Jacobs, told reporters that Childs was "not a threat to public safety."
"He loves kittens," Jacobs quipped. "He didn't kill anybody. Murderers usually get $1 million bail."
Sketch: Joan Lynch
See Also:
- Ameritrade Hack Settlement: $2 Per Victim, $1.8 Million for Lawyers
- Citibank Hack Blamed for Alleged ATM Crime Spree
- ICANN and IANA Sites Hacked, Redirected
- New York Hack Hacked
- Citibank Replaces Some ATM Cards After Online PIN Heist -- Update
- Stakeouts, Lucky Breaks Snare Six More in Citibank ATM Heist
I can haz passwurd?
Invisible bail moneeez
all ur pleece recurds r belong to me
Low tech hack analogy: Man has an army of thugs, who upon oder will smash into police cars and fire stations to destroy radios, or into city hall to burn paper records. Then claims he "is not a threat to public safety". I'm just curious to what this nutjobs motives are.
HAI! I upgraded ur RAM!
Oh Snap! 144,000 for a computer technician job.. I am going down to Human Resources right now.. I have feeling there will be a job opening!
Oh Snap! 144,000 for a computer technician job.. I am going down to Human Resources right now.. I have feeling there will be a job opening!
I'm sick and tired of cats being depicted as poor spellers. Some of you would be lost without a spellchecker. Cat's have other qualities instead. While not nearly as valuable as dogs, someday we might discover those cat qualities and you mockers will have egg on your face.
whats with the top 3 posts - can't they form complete sentences with actual words. reading that gives me a headache
Lesson in Management: Don't piss off the employee that has all your passwords.
@Barney: That $144,000 is in Californian dollars though, so divide it by two and that's what you'd really make.
Not a great career move. Password in prison will be: !M0rELuBe
The Boss: "Who's his manager? Why have you driven him to this? I want your resignation on my desk immediately."
The Boss, to Childs: "What's the story? BTW, we just sacked your supervisor. Let's start over, please? WTF is going on?"
In an ideal world.
I'd be right there with ya if I lived in CA. I'm an IT Director for a reasonably successful tech company and I don't even get that.
Regarding nomad's question, the three unintelligible quotes are LOLspeak, usually associated with cats. Look it up.
@nomad,
They are jokes. They are focusing on the attorney's comment that this goob "loves kittens".
Check it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat
"...Network system he is accused of taking control of."
grammar 101: what did you end a sentence with a preposition for?
hmm, they couldn't find some live cd to plug into the server and delete the admin pass ?
What is it with the grammer checking on this site? I know most who visit are geeks but get a life... and stop criticizing every written word here.
That is unless you want us all to think your an idiot.
@bubbleman: if you were really a champion of cat's rights you would call them "Feline Americans". And another thing: I have three cats and they're all atrocious spellers!
What a careless guy...not like he was lookin at stuff he shouldn't.
I do like the kitten comment though...
"I iz N da public I'z, laughN in your private eyez"
Skynet must be stopped where is john connor!
How about a NEW requirement:
Admin password is accessable at all times to one person besides Admin.
Problem solved. This guy is patently
CRAZY. Why?! People like this ARE a danger to society. Hey don't want to cooperate? Have fun in prison psycho.
ZERO sympathy for this guy. NONE.
I have this feeling we might find out this is something stupid, like the admin protecting some part of the network entrusted to him while he was doing maintenance on it, and some hair-trigger clueless management type insisting on going in there on a Sunday and exploding when he finds out he's gotta wait until such a time as when he won't mess up whatever had to be done and calling the cops. I just have this hunch that someone else was acting like an jerk, not the admin.
Someone besides this Admin should be on the block. Very Irresponsible to have only one guy in control. Also surprising they did not have some key boot disks to unlock regardless.
A little more contigency planning seems in order.
@"Paul is pathetic"
We're not laughing with you, we're laughing AT you. Check your own spelling before flaming someone else.
wow! im speechless that's some pretty massive UBER stupidity going on there...what a joke..on both sides..so the guys got the keys to the fiber network..SO WHAT..who cares...get another admin super geek with a hardware background to hack the shit out of the equipment manually...*its not that hard..really* and what exactly is he accused of?..did he violate any laws?...i mean hes probably like.."these people couldn't check there email if there lives depended on it, why in the hell would i give them administrative control to the primary pathway MDF's?"...and then the dumb ass's are like..OMG..hes a "THRET" BUM BUM BUM..i say take them all to the nearest cliff...+1000 damage -10000 LIFE...nice salary though!
"Cat's have other qualities instead. While not nearly as valuable as dogs, someday we might discover those cat qualities and you mockers will have egg on your face"
While cats are certainly atrocious spellers (or at least my three), they are very good at dialing 911 (http://english.people.com.cn/200601/04/eng20060104_232711.html) - who needs Medic Alert?
I do agree that the city staff look like complete morons - his defense attorney also looks stupid to have not advanced an argument along the lines of "Why should my client's bail be set so high just because everyone else who works for the city is too dumb to know how to recover/reset admin passwords?" If he had stolen the keys to a physical lock they would have just hired a locksmith, rather than asked for huge bail. I'm not defending what he did, but it appears the city staff are incompetent royal douchebags.
Yes, in a perfect world, we could use the words "incompetent royal douchebags" in a court of law and none would be bothered. Gets the point across. This whole thing seems kinda sketchy, Minority Report sort of precrime stuff. They were afraid he might do something with the control or power he held over the system, as if they had Oracles viewing the future and it was a certainty. I am upset at my job, I have access to a great many powerful pieces of data, does that mean that I am a threat? Perhaps, but that's a different story altogether...can I be put on trial for someone else's unwarranted, unproven, speculative paranoid suspicions? I shouldn't be, but it looks as if that is where we are headed.
It is a screwed up world where judges can mete out bail (and sentences) for a white collar crime that are five times higher than what would be set for a murder suspect.
Just goes to show us all where the priorities are! Hackers get a 5 mil bail, while the guy that just hacked granny to pieces, (literally) is bonded at 1/5th that amount or less.
Something is seriously wrong with the judicial system.
What stupidity, giving complete control to one - and only one - person.
What if he had died in a car accident?
When will people realize that it's money that drives the justice system. It doesn't matter that Grandma got killed, she only paid the taxes of one citizen. This guy has caused the city to do more work than they really want to. Someone has to hire another tech to unlock "the network". That means the city will be out money and will be embarrassed which will cost more money to "fix". The city will be out many times the ammount a single taxpayer would pay in their lifetime. Perhaps 5 times what Grandma paid in?
@Thomas Mc: That's easy. The city would hold his corpse ransom until his family came up with the passwords.
I've read several of these stories on various papers / sites and still haven't seen a straight answer as to what exactly is compromised. They say FiberWAN like its their internal project name. It sounds like networking gear... ie transfers not houses data, but act like he can delete records, lock them out of the data, etc. That seems to be more of a server thing. They say he's locked everyone out but everyone can still use it. That sounds like maybe domain admin or server passwords. I'd like to see someone come out and state what part he has control over: windows servers, unix/linux servers, networking, both, more maybe. I'm begining to think he's just got some router / switch passwords and they are over reacting as far as the access to data / control of the network. Routes and switches are fairly easy to just swap out in worst case.
His bail is so high because he's holding an entire city's records at bay. That's a serious offense. Too bad if you knuckleheads out there can't get that. It's a big deal.
This is a simple supervisory issue. There is no excuse for management allowing this to happen. This guy is a run-of-the-mill schmuck, and any normal management would expect this. To charge him for their failure is wrong. What a bunch of idiots. If nothing else, this shows that the city doesn't know what they are doing.
Whoa, dude. Like, he was given too much responsibility. Like, don't they have any way to crack the password? I'll bet the NSA could do it, and they would be glad to get a few hundred thou to do so. It would take about 10 minutes.
THIS IS STUPID. ARE THEY NEW TO COMPUTERS? GIVE ME A BREAK.
I can recover the access - for only $50,000. But they don't want to hear it. They keep saying it is hugely expensive so they can give him more time.
Sounds like he deactivate the password of the guy who tried to get him fired, and then refused to divulge his own password. The rest of the stuff sounds like complete BS, and is simply there to intimidate the guy. They found no evidence of a deadman's switch in the system, yet they trump up the charges anyways.
He dicked with the most liberal city in the world, so they are using intimidation, and wild fabricated claims to dick with him right back.
That is how extremists who get into power do things. (San Francisco is governed by extremist liberals)
They will do anything, legal or not, to force you to do things your way.
It just goes to show you, extremist republicans and extremist democrats are two sides of the same coin.
@Rob: Yes only San Francisco would prosecute someone for a crime which involved city property, and this has to do ONLY with extremist liberals....Pftt..whatever...OH, and BTW Rob, everyone here is FULLY convinced by your logic...LOL.
Terry Childs is a good guy. Erica Derryck, and Kamala Harris don't know shit, there tampons are loose they are just using that "threat to pubic safety" crap to justify in keeping this poor soul in jail, "There is a real fear of that" he could cause an earth quake, if turned loose on society. and if there is anybody who doesn't like my spelling or grammer thank you.
@Philopoemen
Wow, your eagerness to bash on my post only proves you don't have the ability to read past the words "Liberal"
They admitted they found no evidence.
///Start quote from SFGATE.com
"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.
Authorities have searched Childs' home and car for a device that could be used in such an attack, but so far no such evidence has been found."
End Quote///
Yet they claim he is a danger, sounds trumped up too me. Isn't it funny how everyone always says if my party is doing it, it must be true, yet the opposing party is doing it it must be a lie.
I envy you, Philopoemen you obviously live in a blissful world where you know who tells the truth and who lies.
@Rob: I'm actually pretty conservative you dolt. The reason I had an "eagerness" to bash your post is because of the laughable logic you use. You claim that the actions against him are due to the "extremist" nature of the city officials, and not the Admin's actions. I say BS, and I say prove it!
I read the part where you said that both parties can be extemist. That's a valid point. Unfortunately, making one valid point, doesn't validate your premise that the prosecution is based on extremism. The prosecution, in fact, looks like normal law/criminal enforcement to everyone EXCEPT, someone who is deeply paranoid about normal proceedings. That would seem, IMHO, to be YOU Rob.
So get over yourself...
I'm not some mind-reader, nor did I claim to be! I just trust reality, and don't assign devious and diabolical motives to normal happenings, without proof!
@Philopoemen
I wasn't claiming that the prosecution stemmed from extremism, I claimed that they are inflating the charges against him. Sure, if they have enough evidence to prosecute him, put him on trial. But don't make up crap.
They didn't stop there though,they put his bail at 5 million dollars, give me a break! They justified it by accusing him of putting in a mechanism that can destroy the whole system, yet have no evidence of it. They searched his house, and his car and found nothing.
I was claiming that San Fransisco, an extremist government, is known for twisting the courts in anyway that suits them. (Look at some of the more controversial cases filed in San Francisco in the 9th Circuit Court)
I was not claiming he is innocent, just that he is being dicked with.
As for proving it, we will have to wait and what happens at the trial.
@Rob: OK,OK, don't blow a gasket.
Fine. That logic however still doesn't
quite follow however, as he's not being tried by the 9th Circuit, which is an appeals court. You can't really compare the actions of two different courts like that. It's like comparing apples to oranges. Even different judges have different opinions. I think the city is saying they cannot risk the POTENTIAL of something occuring, and it is this POTENTIAL that the city is using to justify the high bail amount. You're saying that amounts to "dicking him around"? Well Isay no. Why? People use potential all the time when trying to argue for high bail, as in "He's a potential flight risk". The bail seems slightly sure, but so what? If that were your city, would you want to take the risk?
It's not like they're asking for a 5 million dollar bail for an accused shop lifter. We'll just have to wait for the trial, at which time, or prior till, I bet we'll see some sort of plea bargain agreement.
@Philopoemen
"don't blow a gasket" That's funny. I am quite enjoying this exchange, and by no means angry.
"Look at some of the more controversial cases filed in San Francisco in the 9th Circuit Court" The point here was not regarding the 9th circuit court, the point was regarding the cities legal consul, which filed the silly cases.
I am sure that elected officials all of which are extremely left leaning liberals, (the key word extreme not liberal) are influencing this case.
Its like arresting you for locking a safe, and using the argument that you may have added a remote bomb in the safe, without proof, to keep you locked up essentially without bail. I just seems silly.
BTW if it turns out he did, I will eat my words, but I tend to doubt it.
Since this is on the Wired blog I was expecting an explanation of what is going on technically and if the charges sound technically valid. What do I get...the same damn quotes found on SFGate. Wired you can do a lot better than cut-copy-paste journalism.
Wow! After reading most of the posts about this story... Where is the love guys? Sniping over spelling and grammar, hardcore left vs. right dogma. You folks could use more oral and chemical relaxation. Hell, try yoga if that's your bag. But I digress... Here's a little nugget relating again to THE STORY. A few more facts, a few more mysteries. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2221855/san-francisco-government-locked
I think the guy just went geek postal.
Think he was the ON Call Tech Guy for SF computer system...like do you think he could have just been over worked and he saw the lower primates in the office that kept screwing up the system and making him work harder .So he locked the system from those that he see as the real problem.. I mean they now say the system is working with out ANY Problems even with the lock out.
Think about that when have you seen a system that big work with out something going wrong?
He locked out the people that are the real problem.. I betting he was even the guy who was in charge of the backup system too and has them all password secured. If they can't get in they can't break the system! He get no calls .. yes he cuts in his pay but now he gets time to him self with out getting called for the 100's plus time because some one forgot their password.
He'll give up the pass word but he is still in the system.. I mean how would you keep control even if they think they have it back?..
this will be interesting to see the out come
CC
I think the guy just went geek postal.
Think he was the ON Call Tech Guy for SF computer system...like do you think he could have just been over worked and he saw the lower primates in the office that kept screwing up the system and making him work harder .So he locked the system from those that he see as the real problem.. I mean they now say the system is working with out ANY Problems even with the lock out.
Think about that when have you seen a system that big work with out something going wrong?
He locked out the people that are the real problem.. I betting he was even the guy who was in charge of the backup system too and has them all password secured. If they can't get in they can't break the system! He get no calls .. yes he cuts in his pay but now he gets time to him self with out getting called for the 100's plus time because some one forgot their password.
He'll give up the pass word but he is still in the system.. I mean how would you keep control even if they think they have it back?..
this will be interesting to see the out come
CC
I think this is kind of a lesson don’t give one person control of any network.
I think the mayor should have a master list of passwords or someone should have a master list. At my work we all have software that synchronizes any changes in the files that we keep the passwords so we all have the passwords unless they don’t put it in the system if they don’t there is hell to pay. Like you don’t get paid for that week !
Being a service contractor for a local computer center that works on government computers we also provide the sheriff with all the settings and passwords. That way they cannot say we are locking them out of anything chances are they will not know what the hell to do with it…
http://www.sfgov.org/site/coit_page.asp?id=84457
"Security Policy - Completed
Chairperson Robinson said that the DTIS Security Manager will give presentation to group on Security policy on July 8, 2008.."
What exactly does the City of San Francisco's official security policy say about who should have had the passwords and what procedure exists for someone to request them and what checks and balances exist to prevent abuse or misuse of the network?
It is not even possible to deny someone the ability to administer a Cisco router if they are able to walk over to the router and reset it. The password returns to the default password as set by Cisco Systems. It is that the city did not know how to then configure the routers for operation on their own network which had caused them to choose not to reset the routers. In effect, they denied themselves administrative access to the routers because they realized that they weren't capable of reconfiguring the routers without Terry Childs.
while one admin delete records then this calls another admin permission
We've cracked the password for you. It's 76%jaIU&^#. Yes, it's case sensitive.
www.SanFranciscoTechSupport.com
Kevin Poulsen | 
web sites:
He loves kittens? "I'm in ur city netwurk, holding ur police filez."