Computer hackers steal Carson funds

"One thousand dollars. You think a bank is going to bat an eye?" Avilla said. "It's not an inexpensive enterprise to have a full team that goes around checking every laptop ever used. I think we can use more IT folks, but when a lot of these departments were created, a few people had computers. Now everyone does. On top of that, almost everyone has a laptop."

Experts said that without up-to-date security software, such a computer could be especially vulnerable if people who use it visit websites that contain spyware.

But hackers also send mass e-mails which, if opened on vulnerable computers, can allow installation of "keystroke loggers."

"It automatically sends all keystrokes logged to a hacker, via e-mail or another form of communication," Schultze said. "So a hacker sitting halfway around the world can log into your bank account, enter your user name and do what they want to do."

Kevin Overcash, vice president of product management for Breach Security in Carlsbad, Calif., said that when organizations started installing a lot of wireless networks, hackers devised ways to breach them through what is called "drive-by hacking."

In trying to provide a service to their residents -- by allowing them to check their water bills via the Web, for example -- municipalities sometimes make themselves vulnerable, he said.

"That kind of access opens you up to hackers. It opens the door for people to have access to data if you do not have good security," Overcash said.

Avilla said she noticed a problem when she found she was unable to log on to the city's bank account. She thought she must have been typing the password incorrectly.

On May 22, the bank gave her a new password. But unbeknownst to her, the cyber thieves got that password as soon as she tapped it into her computer.

On May 24, Avilla and her deputy checked bank balances and discovered the previous day's $90,000 wire transfer to someone in Wilson, N.C. Avilla checked with the bank and discovered the $358,000 transfer that day through National City Bank in Kalamazoo.

"I thought, 'We got a problem,' " Avilla said.

She called the bank and filed a police report, leading to the freezing of the city's funds. No one has been arrested, authorities said.

L.A. County Sheriff's Capt. Todd Rogers said the department's high-tech crimes unit is on the case. The Secret Service is also helping in the investigation, he said.

Avilla said the experience has made her angry and determined to seek legislation that would address the problem. "There's got to be more than one way to fight this," she said. "They get us in so many ways. There's got to be a way for us to get them."

hector.becerra@latimes.com