Next steps
Home / Security News/Largest case of Identity Theft and Hacking ever prosecuted by the U.S Department of Justice
Largest case of Identity Theft and Hacking ever prosecuted by the U.S Department of Justice
2008-08-20
Robert Lemos, Security Focus, reported that on Tuesday, federal prosecutors announced the indictment of eleven people who allegedly took part in the "largest case of identity theft and hacking ever prosecuted by the U.S Department of Justice". The article states, "The eleven suspects, including three U.S citizens, allegedly took part in stealing more than 40 million credit and debit card accounts from nine major retailers and restaurants, including TJX Companies, BJ's Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21, and DSW. The Dave & Buster's and Boston Market restaurant chains were also among the victims."
Albert Gonzalez, the lead defendant, had been arrested previously for access device fraud in 2003. Lemos writes, "During the current investigation, Gonzalez had been working as a confidential informant, but the Secret Service claimed that it had discovered that he was criminally involved in the case. If convicted of the charges, he could be sentenced to life in prison, according to prosecutors."
The US Attorney General, Micheal Mukasey, said of the crimes "They used sophisticated computer hacking techniques, breaching security systems and installing programs that gathered enormous quantities of personal financial data, which they allegedly sold to others or used themselves. And in total, they caused widespread losses by banks, retailers, and consumers."
Lemos explains, "The alleged thieves used wireless scanners to find stores with vulnerable networks and then collected data using network sniffers to capture credit-card numbers, PINs and other account information. The alleged ID theft ring then stored the stolen information on encrypted servers in Eastern Europe and the United States, selling some of the accounts to other criminals."
The Department of Justice released a statement that showed three of the defendants are U.S Citizens, one is from Estonia, three are from Ukraine, two are from the People's Republic of China, and one is from Belarus.
Mukasey states, "So far as we know, this is the single largest and most complex identity theft case ever charged in this country. It highlights the efforts of the Justice Department to fight this pernicious crime and shows that, with the cooperation of our law enforcement partners around the world, we can identify, charge and apprehend even the most sophisticated international computer hackers."
To read the entire article, go here.
