http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_3045437 By Greg Chang BLOOMBERG NEWS 09/20/2005 PG&E Corp's Pacific Gas & Electric utility said it fired a consulting company suspected of hacking into the computer system of an irrigation district thats trying to take over territory from the utility. An employee of the consultant, Meridian Pacific Inc., allegedly obtained computer files last week from the Manteca-based South San Joaquin Irrigation District, which is attempting to take over territory with about 35,000 power meters, PG&E spokesman Jon Tremayne said in an interview Monday. Executives at Meridian didnt respond immediately to a phone call seeking comment. Its very clearly unethical behavior, and from our perspective its absolutely unacceptable, Tremayne said. The incident underscores challenges San Francisco-based PG&E faces from public agencies and government-owned utilities seeking to offer electric services at lower prices. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District is attempting to take over part of the utilitys territory near the cities of Davis and Woodland. Im disappointed but Im not surprised, said Jeff Shields, utility systems director at the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, who has been spearheading the districts drive to acquire a 112-square-mile portion of Pacific Gass territory. A Meridian Pacific employee who was attending the Sept. 13 meeting of the South San Joaquin Irrigation Districts board allegedly broke into the districts system and downloaded files by accessing a wireless network, Tremayne said. Six or seven of the documents were e-mailed to an employee of PG&E, Tremayne said. The employee contacted the utilitys legal department after reviewing two of the documents, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and South San Joaquin Irrigation District were notified, he said. FBI officials werent immediately available for comment. _________________________________________ InfoSec News v2.0 - Coming Soon! http://www.infosecnews.org
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