Scope of access to computers in premier’s office ‘unusual’, trial hears
Special password allowed entry to ‘80 or 90’ machines, former IT manager testifies
When computers in the McGuinty premier’s office started malfunctioning early in 2013, the government’s IT staff quickly suspected a special password as the culprit, a retired civil servant said Thursday.
“That was one of the first things we thought of,” Tom Stenson, then the manager of IT support for the premier’s office and cabinet office, told the criminal trial of two key McGuinty aides.
The trial has heard the password was requested by then-chief of staff David Livingston to clear hard drives of personal information before Premier Kathleen Wynne took over from McGuinty in February 2013.
Livingston and deputy chief Laura Miller are charged with breach of trust, mischief in relation to data and misuse of a computer system in the alleged wiping of hard drives during the political transition period.
At the time, the McGuinty government had been under pressure to reveal documents related to the controversial closing of natural gas-fired power plants in Oakville and Mississauga before the 2011 election.
Livingston and Miller have pleaded not guilty.
After some debate among senior bureaucrats worried that it could be used improperly, the special password was given to premier’s office administrative assistant, Wendy Wai.
It allowed access to “80 or 90 computers,” Stenson told Crown attor- ney Ian Bell, raising concerns that computer files could be altered.
“This is very unusual . . . to grant such administrative rights on such a scope,” Stenson added, noting it was the first time in his 27-year civil service career he’d heard of such a step.
The computer help desk started getting calls that desktops would not boot up properly.
“We started to see a pattern,” Stenson said. “It seemed to be software-related.”
Later, IT staff were tasked by a senior cabinet office bureaucrat to preserve desktops from the McGuinty premier’s office in a “secure location,” a step Stenson described as “a little bit unusual.”
Under cross-examination by Mill- er’s lawyer, Scott Hutchison, Stenson said the troubles that premier’s office staff experienced logging into their computers were resolved.
He acknowledged that IT staff for the Liberal caucus of MPPs at Queen’s Park would sometimes attend the premier’s office to help staff using the Citrix program to access Liberal party servers.
The Crown contends that Miller’s spouse, Peter Faist, a private IT consultant, used the special password to install White Canyon software to delete files on a number of premier’s office computers.
Faist, who is not charged, is slated to testify Friday.
McGuinty was not under investigation and co-operated with police.