The Inscrutable San Francisco Network Lockout

The case of Terry Childs, the San Francisco city network manager currently in jail, charged with computer tampering, remains mysterious. We describe what's known and what isn't:

"The man accused of hijacking San Francisco's main IT network has been depicted by sources in various news reports and blog posts as everything from a gentle, quiet fellow who's been the victim of a giant misunderstanding to a disgruntled loner bent on revenge...

So far neither Childs' own attorneys nor the investigators and prosecutors lined up against him have given any real insight into the man himself. "

InfoWorld claims to be in contact with "a source with direct knowledge of the City of San Francisco’s IT infrastructure and of Childs himself." They report:

"My source appears to believe that Childs' motivation was the antithesis of tampering, and that Childs did everything possible to maintain the integrity of the network, perhaps to a fault." Hat tip: Slashdot.

Meanwhile, Information Week is examining the Lessons Learned:

"it happens in almost every IT shop: A handful of people, or even one person, has the sole responsibility for and knowledge of critical systems... Virtually every IT manager recognizes this problem, but far fewer do anything about it. San Francisco is now learning its lesson the hard way."

We'll keep an eye on this...

Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:19 PM, July 21, 2008

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