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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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Hackers Indicted in Theft of 130M Credit Cards

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(Newser) – Federal prosecutors indicted three hackers in Washington today for allegedly snagging more than 130 million credit card numbers from retail and financial organizations, the Wall Street Journal reports. Calling it the greatest US debit- and credit-card data theft ever, feds hit Albert Gonzalez, 28, of Miami, and two accomplices with charges of conspiracy and conspiracy to engage in wire fraud.

According to prosecutors, the victims included 7-Eleven, Hannaford Brothers supermarkets, and apparel chain TJX, which lost more than 40 million credit card numbers. The thieves allegedly used sophisticated techniques to bypass firewalls and anti-virus programs, then hid the numbers on servers in California and abroad. Gonzalez, who was already jailed on other hacking charges, faces up to 25 years and a $500,000 fine.

A Hannaford Supermarket in Saco, Maine.
A Hannaford Supermarket in Saco, Maine.   (AP Phot)
A T.J. Maxx store in Framingham, Mass.
A T.J. Maxx store in Framingham, Mass.   (AP Photo)
A sign outside the TJX Cos. headquarters.
A sign outside the TJX Cos. headquarters.   (AP Photo)
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6 comments
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2-bits
Aug 17, 09 4:29 PM CDT
"Sophisticated?" My ass. Their credit card processing machines communicated over unencrypted wireless. It was simple war-driving. Reply
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metalworldorder
Aug 17, 09 5:40 PM CDT
Well, to an older generation "communicated over unencrypted wireless" probably sounds sophisticated. What's a little scary is that on NPR, I heard the government was considering putting RFID tags into driver's licenses, and that they had a guy demonstrate how many different tags he found by wardriving. Oi vei! Reply
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Forderon
Aug 17, 09 6:19 PM CDT
Here's my question: What do these hackers plan to gain from this? Do they seriously think 130M stolen numbers would go unnoticed and they can go on their merry way? Or do they just do it for the thrill of it? Either way, they're stupid. Reply
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SPH
Aug 17, 09 6:36 PM CDT
Stupid is as stupid does.....
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2-bits
Aug 17, 09 7:49 PM CDT
They would. The weren't "stolen" they were intercepted, and copied. A good analogy is if TJ Maxx were broadcasting the numbers over the radio and the hackers simply wrote them down as they read them out. God knows how many people exploited this. Anyway, the probably meant to sell them on the black market for about 5 bucks a pop. To be honest, they were probably just unlucky. People get away with this sort of thing all the time. Read your back statements, people!
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