Admins Locked Out of San Francisco's I.T. System
Date : 17 Jul 2008 Category : Technology
NewsFactor NetworkNo Administrator Access
San Francisco's IT department was trying to regain control of the network, which was running and handling everything from the mayor's e-mail to San Francisco's electronic court records. Currently all IT administrators are denied access.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Mayor Gavin Newsom said administrators were blocked from making changes to the city's computer network, so if the system were to crash, workers could not undertake repairs or upgrades.
Cisco Systems has been consulted, and estimates are that in the worst case, the network could be rebuilt from scratch in six to eight weeks. Childs could be liable for the costs.
Not Guilty Plea
Childs pleaded not guilty Thursday to four counts of tampering with a computer network. His lawyer, public defender Mark Jacobs, said his client's $5 million bail was inappropriate. But city prosecutors said the bail is high because Childs endangered public safety.
Childs could be stripped of his public defender, since there might be a conflict of interest because the defender's office is part of the city and county of San Francisco.
Officials searched Childs' car and home, concerned he may have given the access code to an accomplice who could have destroyed hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents. No evidence was found to suggest a collaborator.
Motive Unknown
According to city officials, on June 20 Childs began photographing the new head of security for the city's technology department after she announced an audit of access to the system. According to authorities, she believed Childs had given himself exclusive access...