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Arrest Marks TJX Hack Case Breakthrough

Ukrainian man captured in Turkey called key to massive scheme

By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 21, 2007 2:39 PM CDT
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(Newser) – A Ukrainian-born man believed to have helped arrange the sale of credit card numbers stolen from TJX is in custody, investigators say, and his arrest may help crack the largest case of corporate data theft on record. He was selling thousands of  stolen numbers, the Boston Globe reports, but it's unclear how directly he was involved in the original theft.

Maksym Yastremskiy was arrested in Turkey, where a cop called him "one of the world's important and well-known computer pirates." Tens of millions of credit and debit card numbers were compromised when TJX's computer system was hacked and milked for info for well over a year; analysts say total costs related to the breach will approach $1 billion.

TJX Cos. Posts 48 Percent Profit Increase
TJX Cos. Posts 48 Percent Profit Increase   (Getty Images)
A shopper leaves a T.J. Maxx store in Framingham, Mass., in this file photo taken Feb. 21, 2007. TJX Cos. on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007 said its second-quarter profit was cut by more than a half as the operator of discount stores including T.J. Maxx and Marshalls recorded...
A shopper leaves a T.J. Maxx store in Framingham, Mass., in this file photo taken Feb. 21, 2007. TJX Cos. on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007 said its second-quarter profit was cut by more than a half as the operator...   (Associated Press)
A sign outside the TJX Cos. headquarters is seen in Framingham, Mass., in this file photo taken Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007. More than two months after first disclosing that hackers accessed customers' financial data from its computers, the discount retailer has revealed that information from at least 45.7 million...
A sign outside the TJX Cos. headquarters is seen in Framingham, Mass., in this file photo taken Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007. More than two months after first disclosing that hackers accessed customers' financial...   (Associated Press)
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Blog reactions

"If those prices are correct, they would be substantially higher than typical prices for stolen credit-card numbers in online forums"
SearchSecurity.com

"This is good news indeed"
Thoughts of a Technocrat

"He is likely the largest seller of stolen TJX numbers"
Storefront Backtalk

More info on TJX and the case
Associated Press

 
Turkey • crime • cyberattack • hacker • TJX • Maksym Yastremskiy • data theft

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