U-of-I bookstore hacked, customers warned

A hacking attempt has the University of Iowa warning bookstore customers to check their credit. U-of-I spokesman Steve Parrott says earlier last month somebody improperly accessed a computer containing credit-card numbers and user information. University officials think there may have been as many as 30-thousand active credit-card numbers on the computer — but also think even though someone from outside may have broken into the computer in some way, they didn’t actually get access to those cards. The University learned two weeks ago (on May 18) that some had hacked into the bookstore computer, and shut it down the same day. Parrott says many of the files did not have complete card-holder information — which would block a thief from using their credit, but also makes it hard to notify everyone whose card number may have been accessed. He says they felt it was responsible to alert bookstore customers and tell what they might do to protect themselves. One piece of information they’re offering is a website the school’s set up offering links to three firms you can check with to see if there’s been any unusual activity on your credit card, and if you wish, you can even put a “fraud alert” on it. The information-technology staff at the University of Iowa’s told the bookstore managers that this kind of thing is going on all the time. He says there are people who write computer programs called “brute force programs,” designed to go around and find computers linked to the internet, then put in random combinations hoping to hit a password that will let them break into the computer. But once there, they apparently didn’t access the data or do anything with it. He says it’s still not clear whether a hacker was actually after credit-card numbers, or, as seems more likely, hoping to use the computer to send their messages from, or store illegal files. Still, the University’s set up a website with a question-and-answer list for people whose credit may have been compromised by the bookstore hacking. Surf to: www.uiowa.edu