Five Flags Center gets money back from cyber attack

DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) - Dubuque’s Five Flags Center says it has recovered all of the money stolen in a computer hack in late June.

Hackers were able to steal $300,000 from a Five Flags Center account at MidWestOne Bank and transfer the money to an account in Hong Kong. The bank and events center say they worked with the FBI to identify the source of the attack, stop the transfer and recover all of the funds.

”This is the best possible outcome to what was a very stressful situation over the past month,” said Five Flags Center General Manager H.R. Cook. “We applaud the efforts of MidWestOne Bank, ASM Global’s Security and Information Technology departments, and the federal law enforcement agents who worked so diligently to bring us to this successful outcome. This situation has served as a reminder that these kinds of attacks can happen to anyone and we all need to take proper precautions.”

The news comes as Cedar Rapids School District is facing its own cyber attack that shut down the school district for a week last month. The district says lawyers and investigators have prevented it from releasing hardly any details on the attack itself, but say staff are working to restore systems in time for the start of school in just three weeks.