Sheldon, Iowa — The news that a disgruntled employee admitted hacking into the protected computer system of a Storm Lake college has gotten the attention of administrators at Northwest Iowa Community College.
Late last week a Nebraska man who is accused of hacking into computers at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake entered into a plea agreement in Federal Court.
Northwest Iowa Community College President, Dr. Alethea Stubbe says incidents like the one in Storm Lake definitely raise the awareness of the level of computer security at NCC. She says computer security is an ongoing process at the Sheldon college.
Forty-six year-old David Boyer pleaded guilty to unauthorized access to a protected computer in U-S District Court in Sioux City last week. Prosecutors claim when he didn’t get the promotion he wanted at Buena Vista University, Boyer accessed, without authorization, several of the Storm Lake university’s computers and e-mail accounts. Boyer reportedly admitted from October of 2009 through June of 2010, he accessed protected computers at BV. Prosecutors say Boyer took the action when he wasn’t promoted to become head of the information technology department at Buena Vista. The plea agreement calls for Boyer to pay 100-thousand dollar in restitution. No sentencing date has been set.
