Thursday, March 31, 2011

Walnut Township school payroll records hacked

Someone had gained access into the payroll records between 1:15 p.m.
Monday and 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to a Fairfield County Sheriff’s
Office report.

Ron Thornton, superintendent of Walnut Township Local Schools, said
the district discovered someone had hacked into the payroll files and
school staff was notified.

“There is an ongoing investigation into the security breach,” Thornton
said. “But I can’t really comment on the investigation.”

The Sheriff’s Office report indicated the hackers had been able to
access the 2008 payroll records and started to access the updated
payroll records before being detected.

“This is the first time I can remember of someone hacking into the
payroll accounts of an organization in the county,” Fairfield County
Sheriff Dave Phalen said.

Thornton said the district began notifying approximately 80 school
personnel affected by the breach immediately after it was detected.

“We are advising all the staff to watch their credit history and to
change accounts,” Thornton said.

The district also is looking into credit reporting monitoring agencies
about providing the service to the employees.

“We are looking at the different services and costs,” Thornton said.
“But we haven’t made any decisions on it yet.”

Phalen said investigators would be working with federal authorities to
look into breach.

“The federal authorities are more equipped to deal with this type of
crime,” Phalen said. “But it is really difficult to find out who is
behind this type of crime. If any of the Walnut Township employees
detect anyone trying to access their banking accounts, they need to
notify the school and us as soon as possible.”

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