Jul 15, 2008 4:33 pm US/Pacific
Engineer Jailed After Tampering With S.F. Network
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ―
A computer engineer with San Francisco's Department of Technology jailed on $5 million bail Tuesday for allegedly tampering with the city's new multi-million-dollar computer network.
Terry Childs was arrested Sunday after city officials accused him of taking over the city's new FiberWAN (Wide Area Network) by creating a secret password that gave him exclusive access to it. The network stores records such as officials' e-mails, city payroll files, confidential law enforcement documents and jail bookings.
The 43-year-old Childs was being held on suspicion of four counts of computer tampering. He appeared in court Tuesday, but did not enter a plea. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.
His public defender, Mark Jacobs, described the high bail amount as crazy and suggested the charges resulted from a misunderstanding.
"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."
The city says fixing the system and determining whether the tampering led to a security breach could cost millions of dollars. Officials say the exact damage is still being assessed.
Prosecutors have not given a motive for the alleged cyber-jacking, but police investigators say Childs recently had been disciplined at work.
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