Hackers tap credit card info at Bibliofind

By Daniel Sieberg
CNN.com Technology Editor

(CNN) -- Bibliofind, an online bookseller service, announced Monday that it has learned of a security violation that compromised the credit card information of 98,000 users.

However, company spokesperson Jim Courtovich said Monday that no misuse of the data has thus far been reported.

The breach was discovered during an internal investigation last week after the Bibliofind Web site was defaced in February, said Courtovich.

Upon looking into the defacement, it was discovered that an individual or individuals managed to access the servers on a monthly basis between October 2000 and February 2001.

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Bibliofind, founded in 1996, said it has contacted the various credit card companies so they can take the necessary steps to protect cardholders. The company also said it has removed all credit card information, physical addresses and phone numbers from its servers.

Courtovich said all 98,000 customers would be notified of the incident via e-mail.

"We have no information at this time to suggest that your credit card has been misused, but we wanted to notify you as a precautionary measure," states the e-mail message.

Authorities contacted

Citing the protection of proprietary information, Courtovich declined to say how many total customers are registered with Bibliofind.

Bibliofind has apparently contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No one at the FBI was immediately available for comment Monday.

In the meantime, the Bibliofind Web site will continue only as a "matching" service between buyers and sellers without financial transactions passing through it, Courtovich said. He would not elaborate on whether the payment component would be restored at some point in the future.

The Bibliofind Web site was inaccessible as of Monday afternoon.

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