|
Busted!: Cracker who disrupted DCFS hotline, other phone systems arrested |
|
|
Matt Krasnowski
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
5:22 p.m., August 25, 2003
LOS ANGELES – A former computer technician for a Manhattan Beach technology company has been arrested on charges that he hacked into and disrupted a Los Angeles County child abuse hot line, authorities said Monday.
Walter Wiggs, 44, of Douglasville, Ga., is a former employee of Technology For Business Corp., and allegedly used a computer in his home to illegally access at least 13 computer systems that used the company's automated telephone system services, court papers state.
FBI agents arrested him at his home west of Atlanta on Friday and he remains in federal custody. The charges were filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles earlier this month.
Wiggs was laid off from the company in June and according to court papers was in a dispute over the amount of severance pay he was due.
According to an FBI affidavit, on July 1 Wiggs began remotely accessing computer systems, including the system that helps operate the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Service's Child Protection Hotline. Wiggs allegedly deleted critical files and disabled the hot line's call-routing system.
Callers use the hot line to report cases of child abuse or neglect that require immediate response. The charging papers state that callers were either unable to speak with an agency official or the calls were significantly delayed.
A DCFS official said it was unclear how many calls were affected by the alleged attack. The problem came to the attention of DCFS when a supervisor noted on July 2 that a high percentage of callers were hanging up after connecting with the hot line.
The disruption lasted through July 4, court papers state.
The charging papers state that Technology For Business also received complaints that the automated telephone menu systems for the City of San Diego, the San Diego Union-Tribune and Georgia-based clothing company were disabled, but the court papers do not go into details. Wiggs allegedly accessed those computer systems on July 1.
Officials with the San Diego city manager's office and the Union-Tribune said they were not aware of any reports that their telephone systems' computers were illegally accessed.
Attempts to contact officials at Technology for Business were unsuccessful.
The papers say that Wiggs also accessed computers for answering systems for Orange County District Attorney's Office, the City of Modesto and troubled energy company Enron.
Court papers state that on July 2, Wiggs called his former supervisor in Georgia and left an obscenity-laced voice mail about his severance pay. He concludes by saying we'll see you ... in court.
Wiggs made an initial appearance in federal court in Atlanta on Friday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Arif Alikhan said he was not certain when Wiggs would be transferred to California.
signonsandiego.com
|
|
|
 |
| "Busted!: Cracker who disrupted DCFS hotline, other phone systems arrested" | Login/Create an Account | 0 comments |
|
| | The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
|
|
|
No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register |
|
| |
|
Login |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
· New User? · Click here to create a registered account.
|
|
|
Article Rating |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average Score: 0
Votes: 0
|
|
|
