Terry Childs

Terry Childs is a former San Francisco computer engineer who allegedly manipulated the city's new FiberWAN network so that only he could access it. Childs has been charged with four counts of computer tampering and remains in jail.¹ Childs finally surrendered the codes required to access the city's FiberWAN network to San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom on July 23, 2008.²

Fast Facts

1. Born: ca. 1965¹
2. 2007 salary: $126,000+¹
3. Time spent working for city: Approximately five years¹
4. Bail: $5 million¹
5. Childs began tampering with system on June 20, 2008¹
6. FiberWAN system connects city departments to each other

Potential System Damage

Authorities fear that Childs' tampering could result in millions of dollars worth of damage and that Childs could do irreparable damage to vital city records and the system itself.¹

Problems at Work

Childs had reportedly been cited for poor work performance in the months leading up to the alleged tampering. Work problems became more serious after he allegedly began taking pictures of a fellow worker, the new head of security, after she started to look into who had system access. She became frightened and locked herself in her office. His behavior caused supervisors to become suspicious and they began an investigation revealing that Childs had been monitoring their e-mails. After the discovery, they demanded Childs leave by July 9, 2008.^{1 3}

Criminal Record

Childs was convicted of aggravated burglary in 1982. This conviction kept him in probation or parole until 1987.³

Codes Recovered

On July 21, 2008, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom paid a visit to Terry Childs in jail. After speaking for about 15 minutes, Childs surrendered the access codes to Newsom, who passed them along to the city's technology department.²

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