By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Hamilton County authorities recently arrested a hacker who is accused of breaking into the computer systems of several companies and accessing sensitive information, one of the companies said Friday.

Officials at the Arkansas-based Acxiom Corp., one of the world's largest consumer database management companies, said investigators from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office notified them of the computer breach last week.

A spokesman for Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis, who oversees a computer crimes task force, would neither confirm nor deny an investigation or an arrest in the case.

But Acxiom officers said in a statement Friday that they were recently notified that a hacker had been arrested in connection with accessing the computer systems of Acxiom and other companies.

Company officials say the hacker gained access to information about a small percentage of customers of Acxiom's clients, but they said all of the information was encrypted and none appears to have been used for illegal purposes.

"There is no evidence it had been forwarded or used fraudulently," said Dale Ingram, an Acxiom spokesman in Little Rock, Ark. "There is a low risk that that occurred."

Officials at the FBI in Cincinnati said they were aware of the investigation but did not have information about the accused hacker or the computer systems that may have been accessed.

Acxiom officials would not name specific clients affected by the alleged intrusion, but the company counts some of the largest companies in America among its clients, including credit card companies and banks. Acxiom is paid to manage information about customers of those businesses.

They said the breach at Acxiom occurred while information was being exchanged between the company and one of its clients via the Internet.

The hacker is a former employee of an Acxiom client, the company said.

"The individual arrested was a known sophisticated hacker," the company said in a statement. "He evidently gained access through hacking of encrypted passwords."

Acxiom's company leader, Charles D. Morgan, said the company has launched a review of systems and procedures to prevent future break-ins.

"We deeply regret this breach," Morgan said.

Although the extent of involvement of Hamilton County authorities is unclear, the sheriff's department has been active for years in investigating computer crimes. Deputies have arrested dozens of suspects on charges ranging from computer hacking to soliciting sex from minors online.

---

E-mail dhorn@enquirer.com