A computer nerd’s ultimate revenge
This one would be funny, if not for the damage being caused. Ok, it’s still a little funny. It looks like some computer tech in San Francisco got mad at the city and retaliated by shutting everyone but himself out of a new multi-million dollar computer network.
This story at sfgate.com details how the man - he’s in jail right now - took control of the system, allowing only himself to have access to key areas. The city’s leaders can’t get in.
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.
I find this somewhat amusing, given the subject matter of a story I’ve been working on this week about our life with passwords. This dude apparently took password creation pretty seriously - the city says it is working on breaking his passcodes, but that it could cost “millions of dollars.”
Something tells me the disgruntled techie came up with something a bit more original than dog123 for his password.


Tim has covered a wide range of topics, including tourism, crime, aviation and gambling, since becoming a reporter in 1990. The Oklahoma native joined the Post-Dispatch in 2007 after spending nine years in Orlando. In his spare time, he's often exploring one virtual world or another. He can be reached at tbarker@post-dispatch.com.
Waterboard him.
He’ll talk.