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Hackers transfer $200,000 out of school’s bank account

Officials with the Carl Junction R-1 School District in Missouri say computer hackers apparently were able to transfer nearly $200,000 out of the district’s bank account, reports the Joplin Globe. Authorities as of earlier this week had managed to recover $80,000 of the amount stolen, and school officials say they are confident that the district’s insurance will cover any money that is not retrieved. Superintendent Phil Cook said a virus struck the district’s computer system on Feb. 26, and the district later learned that a portion of that virus allowed someone to access the district’s bank account. Cook said about $200,000 was transferred from the district’s account to a number of banks nationwide in increments of about $8,000. He said the virus that hit the district’s system contained a "key logger" that allowed the hackers to recognize computer keystrokes. "They were then able to recognize when people signed on to our system and their passwords, and they were specifically looking for people signing in to our bank account," Cook said. The virus was not detected by any of the numerous antivirus programs the school district employs, he added…

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