Angry UNIX sysadmin tries to shut down California power grid

Looks like someone's trying to inspire a new generation of BOFH posts -- Lonnie Charles Denison, a UNIX sysadmin working at power grid data center in Folsom, CA, just pled guilty to attempting to kill the western US power grid in April. Denison had been fighting with his bosses and lost his access privileges to the system, which apparently led him to sudo up the old-fashioned way -- by taking a hammer to the data center's emergency shutoff switch. Fortunately, he did it late on a Sunday night, when the power-management center was not in high demand, but officials say he could have caused a power disruption in the western US if he'd gone loco in the AM. Denison also apparently emailed in a fake bomb threat to another worker the next morning, leading to his eventual arrest, and it looks like he's facing a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in jail. Wonder if he flipped an excuse card while on the stand?

[Jonathan Bergeron @ Dec 20th 2007 2:04PM]

What is BOFH?

[zabador @ Dec 20th 2007 2:09PM]

Bastard
Operator
From
Hell

[Jonathan Bergeron @ Dec 20th 2007 2:22PM]

how do you know he doesn't know his father? it didn't say anything about that in the article.

[murray @ Dec 20th 2007 2:33PM]

Oh dear. As if your ignorance about what BOHF means was not embarrassing enough.

[oGMo @ Dec 20th 2007 2:37PM]

10 demerits ... turn in your geek card now.

The original and still the best; make sure to read through '99: http://bofh.ntk.net/Bastard_Indexes.html

The new ones; make sure you poke around and start back in 2000: http://www.theregister.co.uk/odds/bofh/

[NovaLand @ Dec 20th 2007 2:41PM]

Didn't this happen like a month ago? where's the "new" in this news?

[Reader @ Dec 20th 2007 2:07PM]

What a cool kid.

[Rob @ Dec 20th 2007 2:11PM]

Ok, what's with this "a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in jail" bull. That's the same crap they threaten you on every dvd you buy. Someone committed a crime in my town, and was threaten with the same crap. It seems like you can basically do the any stupid thing and the punishment would be the same. Might as well "Go Big or Go Home." Anyway, this guy needs a good ass kicking if you ask me.

Anyway, if this clown had interrupted my morning workout sessions with Denise Austin, I would've been really mad. He can consider himself lucky for choosing another time of the day.

[Charles @ Dec 20th 2007 2:27PM]

While taking hammer to some equipment may sound trivial his aim was in fact to take down the power supply for the whole west coast. This could have cost US businesses billions in lost revenue and lost employee time while in homes elderly people could have fallen over and injured themselves while scrambling around in the dark. What happens when hospitals lose power? I'm sure they must have some backup power but there's nothing to stop a few fatalities. The impact of his actions could have been catastrophic.

If he gets a week behind bars then there's little deterrent to stop someone doing something similar with equally dramatic consequences. However, if he gets a hefty fine and years in prison then no matter how angry someone is they'll think twice before doing something similarly damaging.

Given the damage he was deliberately trying to cause US homes and businesses the fine and prison time is fully justified and is also necessary to deter other people from doing something similar. I hope he gets the full 5 years so he can reflect upon just how much damage he tried to do.

[Rob @ Dec 20th 2007 2:30PM]

@Charles, you did sense my sarcasm in my comments right? And, I agree with you in every point. If it was up to me, I'd strap his ass to the chair and allow him to enjoy the same product he was trying to take away from others.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 20th 2007 2:31PM]

bomb threats are serious. they went soft if you ask me.

[Wwhat @ Dec 22nd 2007 7:45PM]

I'm sorry but if you design the system so that 1 guy in a mad mood can shut down the entire west coast then I don't blame the guy.
But it's probably not true anyway.
If it is true, let him go, then arrest the system designer.

[CharlieX @ Dec 20th 2007 2:12PM]

Ha ha. Sudo up the old fashioned way. With a hammer!

[Froggy @ Dec 20th 2007 2:50PM]

"Unix - our systems are so secure, even taking a hammer to them won't take them down." :D

[jesseherrold @ Dec 20th 2007 4:04PM]

I can never find a hammer in a Data Center when I need one! Just like dodgeball, there go all the DC hammers. THANKS A LOT!

[rj @ Dec 20th 2007 2:12PM]

One wonders what possible reason his superiors could've had to revoke his access, eh? He seems nice.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 20th 2007 2:35PM]

fighting with his bosses, but lost.
looks like he needs to brush up on his muy thai. TIGER UPPERCUT!!

[mabhatter @ Dec 20th 2007 10:23PM]

this would be a good excuse for the "perp walk" and revoked access to the plant. What the hell was he doing in the location after having his access revoked anyway? He should have been stopped at the door by security and his credentials revoked.

Where was there Homeland security protocol... this is EXACTLY what HR and building security is THERE for, his bosses should be in jail for several serious security breeches.

[mike l @ Dec 20th 2007 2:21PM]

The Maximum punishment is just that, the max you "could get". Almost never happens. He'll probably get probation with a little jail time, some community service, a $200 fine (the minimum) and an anger management class.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 20th 2007 2:33PM]

that's pretty subtle for a bomb threat and jeopardizing the entire west coast. don't ya think?

[Matt @ Dec 20th 2007 2:26PM]

Jackass. Who the hell would honestly try and take a hammer to the data centers shutoff switch, apparently this guy wont be eligible to become a CEH any time soon.

[applefreak @ Dec 20th 2007 2:32PM]

idiot

[TriZz @ Dec 20th 2007 2:46PM]

It was video games that made him do it. Remember the hammer bros in Super Mario Brothers?

[Technex @ Dec 20th 2007 2:59PM]

That's right everyone blame the video games ;).

[skyward03 @ Dec 20th 2007 2:46PM]

The sad thing about all of this is that he should have no access privileges to the system, but they forget to remove him for the sudo list and lock him account. They need to start reading unix security for dummy.

[PDubNYC @ Dec 20th 2007 3:28PM]

ugh..and you need to pick up "Reading Comprehension for Dummies" He did his damage physically, with a hammer. He smashed safety glass, and hit THE BIG RED BUTTON. The sudo comment was the original poster being clever.

[JRF @ Dec 20th 2007 2:46PM]

Actually feel bad for him...he was a friend of mine, and he's got some serious pysch issues. It's actually not the first time he's done this trick though--got him fired from one of his previous jobs, too! He needs medical care, not jail.

[ethana2 @ Dec 20th 2007 2:58PM]

One of the things I love about the internet... People party to large scale situations show up to talk about it on tech blogs and forums :) kinda like that whole incident with that pirate who used Ubuntu being forced to switch to Windows because they didn't make the required malware for linux..

Well, I hope he gets the help he needs...

[Eddie @ Dec 20th 2007 3:14PM]

I hope he gets the help he needs in jail.

[andy @ Dec 20th 2007 2:46PM]

I think some businesses where IT and systems are mission critical had better wise up with respect to admins. No joke.

Normally, admins are low key, careful people on the whole (engineers and CS types) because they have to think through everything and solve problems. One of these days, one of these guys is going to apply the same logic to the systems he works with and it's not going to be good for the business or their customers.

Office Space is one big long joke, but really, it's not entirely implausible, especially if you're just looking to bury a bug somewhere and walk away to watch the devestation.

[mabhatter @ Dec 20th 2007 10:30PM]

usually admins do stupid stuff like this when they feel they have nothing to lose anyway and it's from pure repressed emotions.

On a security note, DHS should be fining the company for allowing him on the premises after revoking his computer authority. If his infraction was serious enough to revoke computer access, he had no useful need for physical access and should have been suspended and his ID revoked... this a power plant for half the west coast!!! ever underestimate the damage caused by somebody having a bad day!

[rento @ Dec 20th 2007 3:15PM]

Kill 9

[Eddie @ Dec 20th 2007 3:20PM]

If you're gonna flip the F out and try to take out the entire west coast's power grid, you absolutely CANNOT fail. Now you're just the jackass serving the same term as if you had succeeded, only you didn't.

Secondly, a bomb threat? Seriously? What is this, high school? Why don't you just clown your bosses at recess and steal their pogs? You fail at communication, you fail at being a responsible adult, you (probably) fail at UNIX, and now you're going to fail not being a convicted felon and staying the hell out of jail. Tard.

[Kris S. @ Dec 20th 2007 3:34PM]

"He needs medical help!" LOL!

Yeah right, throw his @$$ in the slammer.

[Bill @ Dec 20th 2007 3:40PM]

Wow, that's pretty scary! The place they are talking about, in case anyone wonders, is the Independent System Operator (ISO), based in Folsom (walking distance from my house, in fact). They control the entire western power grid from there. They were in the news a lot several years ago when we were having all those rolling blackouts, because that's where all the power rationing was controlled from.

Yeah, you don't want anyone running around in there with vengence on his mind.

[JRF @ Dec 20th 2007 3:54PM]

Shouldn't we be a little more focused on the fact that there's one stupid button that can shut down one of the largest economies on the planet??? Who the hell designed this security feature??? You can keep putting people in jail, but it would be a lot more effective to develop a more resilient system that can't be knocked out by one button push!

[Shane @ Dec 20th 2007 6:02PM]

@JRF--

This is a common safety feature in most data centers and other technical or equipment areas. It is designed so that in case of emergency (fire, person being electrocuted, caught in equipment, etc) power can quickly be cut to the equipment in order to deal with the situation.

If someone really wants to do malicious damage in a datacenter or other facility they will do it regardless of whether or not there is an Emergency Stop button present.

[IndiaTech @ Dec 20th 2007 3:56PM]

Maximum punishment for this guy is to make him work on Windows Vista.

[Sir Fatty @ Dec 20th 2007 4:03PM]

I wonder how easy it would be for someone to walk in off the street and do this?

[czDave @ Dec 20th 2007 4:11PM]

So one guy has the ability to (possibly) bring down the entire western power grid by flipping one switch? I know we're not launching ICBMs here, but should the whole western US power system be dependent on this one ISO center? It makes it too much of a target.

[pheer6224 @ Dec 20th 2007 4:33PM]

typical arrogant unix guru.

[dataminer49er @ Dec 20th 2007 4:40PM]

So that is what happened to Milton after he left Initech.

[z0phi3l @ Dec 20th 2007 5:24PM]

A project in School we had to create our company for a presentation, we decided Initech would fit the team perfectly

[dataminer49er @ Dec 20th 2007 8:15PM]

We have a fitness challenge where I work, we named it Team Initech.

[ED @ Dec 20th 2007 4:57PM]

A new generation of BOFH posts? I'm not sure what that means since the latest one is only a week old.
It would be a funny coincidence if the next one happens to include an intentional power outage, as I don't remember there being one of those recently. They do happen occasionally.
*goes to search for episodes with power outages with malicious intent*
(I mean malicious outages, not malicious searching.)

[SiSo @ Jan 25th 2008 7:45AM]

Malicious Searching HA! I laughed so hard when I read that comment. I also liked the OP's comment about " 'sudo'ing up the old fashioned way... with a hammer!" That was freakin hilarious.

[Mr. S. @ Dec 20th 2007 5:37PM]

But, you always have to push the red button. Clearly, he was framed!

[Bob @ Dec 21st 2007 1:16AM]

This is what bothers me about our datacenters. They always have the BIG RED BUTTON on the wall that says DO NOT PUSH.

I mean, come on...that's inviting trouble if you ask me.

[Someguy @ Dec 20th 2007 6:19PM]

Sounds like a nice guy.

[swang54 @ Dec 20th 2007 6:24PM]

what a loss! slashdot.net just lost one best fighter.
hahahahaha