Fergie's Tech Blog

San Francisco Network Admin Hands Over Passwords to Mayor Newsom

Jaxon Van Derbeken writes in The San Francisco Chronicle:

The San Francisco computer engineer accused of withholding access codes to the city's network surrendered the password during an unusual jailhouse visit by Mayor Gavin Newsom, authorities said Tuesday.

Newsom came away with the access codes Monday night after talking with Terry Childs, 43, of Pittsburg, who has been held since July 13 on four felony counts stemming from what prosecutors describe as an effort to block administrative access to the network that handles 60 percent of the city's information, including sensitive law enforcement, payroll and jail booking records.

Childs had given officials what turned out to be bogus passwords and then had refused to give the correct ones, even when threatened with arrest, authorities say. But Monday, Childs' defense attorney Erin Crane contacted the mayor's office, setting in motion the secret visit.

The visit was so secret that the mayor did not tell District Attorney Kamala Harris' office or police about it. Newsom decided on his own to accept Crane's invitation, mayoral spokesman Nathan Ballard said.

posted by Fergie @ 7/22/2008 08:14:00 PM