SF employee accused of setting network sabotage time bomb
San Francisco city computer engineer remains held on $5 million bail, accused of hijacking city network and arranging it to self-destruct during the next routine maintenance or outage.
Bail for a San Francisco city employee accused of hijacking the city's network remained at $5 million on Friday after prosecutors accused the worker of rigging the network to sabotage it the next time it was shut down for maintenance or due to a power failure, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
Terry Childs, 43, was arrested July 13 on charges of tampering with the city's computer network. He remained in jail after the hearing on Wednesday.
In a secret meeting with Mayor Gavin Newsom on Monday, Childs revealed the passwords to the system so officials could take back control of it.
However, the Sheriff's Department and Park and Recreation Department remained locked out, although the network was in operation, the newspaper reported.
"He had a malicious intent to destroy the entire network," Prosecutor Conrad del Rosario is quoted as saying.
Childs' lawyer, Erin Crane, says her client has done nothing illegal and is being made a scapegoat by city officials who wanted to get rid of him for no legitimate reason.