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.
Terry Childs, a 43-year-old computer network administrator who lives in Pittsburg, has been charged with four counts of computer tampering and is scheduled to be arraigned today.Prosecutors say Childs, who works in the Department of Technology at a base salary of just over $126,000, tampered with the city's new FiberWAN (Wide Area Network), where records such as officials' e-mails, city payroll files, confidential law enforcement documents and jail inmates' bookings are stored.
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. He was taken into custody Sunday. (more)
So, how do you protect yourself against insider hijacking?
One way to start...
• Don't give the keys to the kingdom to only one person.
• "Checks and Balance" "Checks and Balance" "Checks..."
• Establish an admin / root password emergency reset plan.
• Bell your cat(5). Get notified when it hits the fan: Tripwire
• Keep my number handy. Rogues are know for their bug and wiretap tricks, too.
