Security breach at swanky Chicago Yacht Club

The hack involved the credit and debit card data of the organization’s prominent members.

The club's computers crashed on June 15, prompting an investigation into the network.

On June 21, private investigators found signs that malware may have been installed on one of the club's servers this spring.

Commodore Gerald Bober notified members in a July 31 letter.

He told them the information exposed as a result of the breach “may include your name, address, and in a few cases, bank account or credit-card numbers.”

The server hosts the club's membership database but it is “not the one used by members paying their account using the club's website,” the letter states.

The club hosts some of the city's most affluent business leaders, including Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, as well as some of the Walgreen family.

“I'm concerned about not being notified sooner,” said attorney James Mescall, who notes that he didn't receive word about the breach until Aug. 1.

Former member Lee Neubecker, president of Forensicon, a computer forensics company, learned of the computer breach after being contacted by someone who thought he could aid the probe.

Neubecker couldn't help but he did learn his bank account had a few suspect transactions that his bank is examining.

“Once they learned there was a potential breach, they should have informed everyone,” Neubecker said.