If ever there was a doomsday scenario materialising then this could be the one!
Terry Childs, a former computer engineer for the San Francisco government, has been accused of stealing passwords to the inner workings of the system, something which could cost the authorities millions of dollars to rectify. Allegedly he has given himself exclusive access to the network and while documents can still be viewed by users of the computer system, in the event of a major problem with the network the technicians would not be able to gain access to the inner workings.
The computer network in question holds private information on employees which includes payroll data, email addresses and law enforcement records. Apart from the fact that Mr Childs is alleged to have sole access at the moment, there are concerns that the passwords and entry data could fall into the wrong hands.
Mr Childs has pleaded not guilty to four counts of computer tampering and while he refuses to confirm that he has the passwords in question, his lawyer claims that the city's computer system is not at risk. For those concerned about computers ‘taking over the world' this saga has in many ways confirmed their worst fears. |
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