After a six-month trial, a San Francisco city admin was found guilty Tuesday of a sole felony count of hijacking the city's computer system.
Terry Childs, 45, was guilty of one count of locking out the city from its FiberWAN network containing city e-mails, payroll, police records, information on jail inmates and more -- virtually an all-access pass to City Hall.
Childs was arrested in July 2008 after refusing to hand over passwords to the Wide Area Network system he was accused of taking control of illegally. A San Francisco jury deliberated a week before reaching a verdict.
Childs' $5 million bail was set five times higher than most murder defendants' because the authorities feared that, if released, he might permanently lock the system and erase records.
The FiberWAN network system is the major backbone of the consolidated city-and-county government's computing infrastructure, connecting hundreds of different departments and buildings to a central data center, and to each other. The FiberWAN system carries more than 60 percent of the network traffic for San Francisco's government.
Childs had worked as a computer technician with the city for five years before his arrest. He earned $126,000 in base pay, in addition to another $22,500 for being on call to assist with network malfunctions. The city's data system was restored after Mayor Gavin Newsom spoke with Childs in jail, where he finally gave the passwords to the mayor.
Childs faces a maximum 5-year prison term when sentenced June 14.
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