Sys admin admits trying to axe California power grid
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Homer Simpson-style rage attack A sys admin last week pleaded guilty to attempting to disrupt the power grid in California by shutting down a data centre that managed the state's electrical supply.â¦
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Tick, tick, tick, tick... oh A former sys admin at Medco Health Solutions, a US prescription management and health information firm, has been jailed for 30 months over a failed attempt to destroy its systems using a "logic bomb" computer virus.â¦
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By Brooke Bryant, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.  Dec. 15--Orinda is urging the East Bay Municipal Utility District to reconsider plans to overhaul its regional water system.
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California company Super Micro Computer pleaded guilty to violating an export ban by selling servers and other computer components to Iran.
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By Alex Breitler, The Record, Stockton, Calif.  Dec. 12--STOCKTON -- Stockton East Water District wants to run a bulldozer through a family's walnut orchard in an attempt to appease another neighboring farmer and guard against terrorists who may want to poison Stockton's drinking water.
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California wildfires created an electricity "island" of San Diego County on Wednesday as one major power transmission link to the U.S. West grid was shut and the other was flickering on and off, said San Diego Gas & Electric Co.
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Aussie solar thermal specialist negotiating with utilities for big solar plants
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(InfoWorld) - A day after Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP)Â chairman Patricia Dunn promised to step down for her role in a spy scandal, the state of California is continuing its effort to indict her and the private investigators she used. Dunn's actions were not merely unethical but actually violated the law, and the state now has enough evidence to indict people both within HP and contractors outside the company, according to Thomas Dressler, a spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. In her efforts to discover the source of press leaks about board deliberations,Â HP has acknowledged that Dunn hired a private investigation firmÂ to pose as the 10 suspected board members and journalists in order to convince the phone company to disclose private phone records. This is a practice known as pretexting. In an interview on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Tuesday, Lockyer said that under California law, people involved in the probe could be charged with crimes both for falsely taking another person's identity and for accessing computer records with their personal information. Dressler confirmed Lockyer's comments. HP hired investigation firm Security Outsourcing Solutions Inc. (SOS), which shares its Boston offices with a law firm called Bonner, Kiernan, Trebach and Crociata, according toÂ a report in The New York Times that sited sources close to the case. The Times also said that the California and Massachusetts attorney generals were working together on the case. Dressler declined to confirm the name of the security firm HP hired, or whether California and Massachusetts are working together on the case. "I'm not going to deny it, but beyond what the attorney general said I'm not going to comment. It's not prudent for prosecutors to mention names before bringing charges," Dressler said. A call to SOS on Wednesday was answered by a woman who recited the name of the law firm, but denied the two businesses were connected. She declined to give her name, and said that no one was immediately available for comment. Ironically, an SOS newsletter posted on the firm's Web site warns corporate executives that their privacy is at risk since their Web surfing and e-mail records can be traced by Internet browsers and cookies. It advises clients to shield their identities by using a Web site called Anonymizer.com. Â
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas  - U.S. immigration agents have charged an Oregon businessman with trying to buy batteries used in U.S.-built Hawk surface-to-air missiles for shipment to Iran, court documents showed on Thursday.
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A friend of Rufus writes FoTW It appears that the now-legendary Rufus - he of Gadspot.com's battling tech support who called one customer a "a pain in the butt" then reserved the right to "server" him "for being mean" - has has become a torchbearer for obstreperous dictionary-dodgers worldwide.â¦
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InfoWorld - Symantec&#39;s attempt to make amends with Chinese users who saw their&#160;computers crippled by its antivirus software&#160;is off to a rocky start, with critics saying the company&#39;s&#160;compensation offer&#160;isn&#39;t good enough.
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From 2001 to 2006 a worker who was supposed to make hourly fire patrols at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in Southern California faked records to show checks had been made when they had not been, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Monday.
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By David Sneed, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif.  Jun. 26--California electricity customers have paid $1 billion to the federal government to permanently store high-level radioactive waste, but the fate of a proposed storage facility at Yucca Mountain remains uncertain.
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By The Sacramento Bee, Calif.  Dec. 9--Controller Steve Westly hasn't always been notable for his aggressiveness in office, but he is ending his tenure with a bang.
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Enron hindered federal attempts to ease the 2000-01 West Coast energy crisis by selling government electricity slated for California to Southwestern states, new evidence indicates.
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By JORDAN ROBERTSON Associated Press  Patricia Dunn, admitting 'inappropriate techniques,' will remain a company director.   SAN JOSE, Calif.
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By Jake Armstrong, The Record, Stockton, Calif.  Feb. 24--TRACY -- Officials plan to squirrel away some of the city's liquid assets.