December 17, 2007 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — A former Unix system operator pleaded guilty Friday to charges that he cut the power of a nonprofit Californian data center that manages the state’s electricity.
Thirty-three year old Lonnie Denison of Sacremento, California is facing up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine after admitting to shattering a glass casing and pressing the emergency “off” switch at the California Independent System Operator (caiso.com) data center in Folsom, California, on April 15.
The act resulted in shutting down the facilit’s power, and therefore cutting the state off from the energy market and leaving California open to potential blackouts. Fortunately, no blackouts happened since the data center’s power was cut late Sunday evening — a time when the demand for power is relatively low.
Although it is not entirely clear as to what Denison’s motive was in cutting off California’s power, US attorneys say that just minutes before the incident he was seen arguing with coworkers after finding out that his computer privileges had been taken away.
Prosecutors also say that the day after setting off the power outage, Denizen sent a bomb threat via email to an unnamed Cal-ISO employee, saying, “Hey, at one point I respected you… you have a new kid. So this is only because of him. Get out before the timer expires. Not long now. Take care.”
After receiving this threat, Cal-ISO evacuated some 500 employees from all three of its Folsom buildings, resetting control of the grid to a second control center. Later that day Denison admitted to a friend that he had attempted to “shut off the power grid,” according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
The power outage shut the facility down for approximately two hours, and took 20 computer technicians about seven hours to fully restore the system. The total cost of the outage is estimated at $14,000. Denison is scheduled to be sentenced on February 29, 2008, in federal court.
