December 29, 2009
-
News: Hacker Pleads Guilty
As expected the infamous credit card breach ringleader pleaded guilty to 19 counts of conspiracy, computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft related to the incident in a U.S. District Court in Boston. Sentencing is scheduled for March 18th and it is expected that Albert Gonzalez the alleged mastermind to what is consider the largest debit and credit card breach in history will serve up to 25 years in prison for his role in the crime. The transgressions involved hacking into the computer systems of several large retailers and financial institutions and involved the theft of over ten million debit and credit card numbers. Those affected were customers of such prominent businesses as TJX Cos. (TJX), the parent company of TJMaxx and Home Goods; BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. (BJ); OfficeMax Inc. (OMX); Boston Market; Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS); and, Sports Authority Inc. (TSA).
Gonzales acting under several aliases including "Segvec," "Soupnazi" and "J4guar17," also pleaded guilty several months ago to another credit card theft incident in a New Jersey court. Those charges consisted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud relating to credit card data breach of the Dave & Buster's Inc. (DAB) restaurant chain. Charges in the Boston court consisted of two counts of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to the payment card networks operated by, among others, Heartland Payment Systems Inc. (HPY), a New Jersey-based card processor; 7-Eleven, a Texas-based nationwide convenience store chain; and Hannaford Brothers Co., a Maine-based supermarket chain.
According to court documents, Gonzalez controlled several servers that provided access to other criminals who then hacked into the systems and stored malicious software which was used to capture sensitive personal information and credit card data. The malicious software tagged malware, was written by Stephen Watt who was recently sentenced to two years in prison, three years on probation, and ordered to pay $171.5 million in restitution.