Now that the San Francisco network passwords are safely in the hands of competent staff, what could possibly go wrong? After putting the entire IT network into the hands of one single man, with a criminal-record, the authorities made oops No. 2, by submitting all 150 usernames and passwords on a public record as exhibit in court.

Yes, it’s like playing with fire, but nobody thought of that, when the DA’s office included them in court documents as Exhibit A in the case against Terry Childs, the 43-year-old computer administrator who changed access passwords to the city’s IT network, which contains confidential law enforcement documents and records, and controls 60 percent of the city’s traffic.

Now comes the strange part: although these passwords are considered to be of a sensitive nature, and authorities have gone through a lot to get them, facing multiple refusals from Childs, the DA office decided to include them in a public document…

Although sources familiar with the situation explained that this is just one set of passwords, and that another set of passwords is required to access San Francisco’s city network, making them public still poses a security risk.

Exhibit A was used against Childs’ demands to lower the $5 million bail. Childs’ lawyer argued that his client stalled the process of handing over the passwords simply to protect them from the hands of malevolent city officials, who were trying to gain access to the network. On July 23, Child’s plea was denied, and Childs will remain in jail until his next hearing, on September 24.

On July 13, Terry Childs was arrested on four felony charges of tampering with the city’s IT network. The night before his July 23 bail hearing, Childs agreed to disclose the passwords during a mid-night secret visit from Mayor Gavin Newsom.  

His behavior still remains hard to explain. However, his case should draw alarm signals that there should always be a backup plan for emergency situations, and that leaving the entire city network in the hands of one single person, with criminal record for aggravated robbery, isn’t exactly  the best idea.