Small Town News

Town banking system compromised last week, computers removed for investigation

---

No town employees were involved in what appears to be a breach of security in Town of Superior banking system computer programs, according to Town Manager Melanie Oliver.

On Friday, she released a statement regarding the incident. She said that in an effort to provide the townspeople with complete transparency the town is releasing information as to what happened. But, she said, "Exact details and suspects cannot be disclosed as the breach is still under investigation."

She said that on Friday, October 16, town staff received notice from the Superior Branch of Bank of the West that there had been a "suspicious transaction" that cleared the Town's payroll account in the amount of more than $30,000.

"Staff immediately met with branch staff and it was discovered that the town's payroll account had been compromised," she said.

According tcOliver, the Superior Police Department and Bank of the West investigated the transaction until the Federal Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation. She said it had been determined that the initial withdrawal was deposited into an overseas bank account.

"It looked like our payroll account had been compromised from somewhere outside of the United States," Superior Public Safety Director/Police Chief Lou Digirolamo said in a separate interview to the newspaper. He said what had taken place could possibly be thought of as the town being a victim of an alleged identity theft.

Oliver said that subsequently a second unauthorized transaction in an amount of more than $70,000 was also attempted but did not go through.

"Bank of the West at first refunded the town the $39,000," she said of the first transaction. "However, due to the criminal nature of this transaction the bank withdrew their refund from the town's payroll account. At this time the transaction has not been recovered by the town."

She added, "The initial investigation has disclosed that no town employees were involved in this unauthorized transaction and that a virus compromised sensitive systems within the town. The FBI has seized all computers at Town Hall that handled the banking and financial matters in order to continue their investigation."

She said that all staff computers anc the system server are currently being scrubbed of their internal memory and operating systems. They will be restored to their original operating status along with additional security layers.

"The town will be installing a dedicated computer and secure internet server for operating the necessary sensitive systems," she said. "It will be blocked from non system specific internet sites and will not have email access. These measures will ensure the security," she added.

She said that as additional information is authorized for release, the Town of Superior will release that information to the public in a timely fashion. She said the town is committed to ensuring the public is aware of the happenings of town operations.



Copyright 2009 The Superior Sun, Superior, Arizona. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 The Superior Sun Superior, Nebraska. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

More from The Superior Sun