Also see: U.S. Secret Service Asset at Heart of Identity Theft Probe
"The breach; A loose-knit ring of hackers stole credit card data from unsuspecting US retailers. Though 11 people have been indicted, experts say the case shows how sophisticated identity-theft schemes have become." by Ross Kerber, Globe Staff | August 17, 2008
Five years ago, Albert Gonzalez allegedly used an unsecured radio link to tap into the computers of a BJ's Wholesale Club store in Miami and access customer credit-card numbers.
It was a simple trick, but it was only the beginning.
From that first break-in, Gonzalez and a ring of accomplices flew up the learning curve, prosecutors charge. They wirelessly broke into the computer networks of other stores including those operated by OfficeMax Inc., Boston Market Corp., Barnes & Noble Inc., and TJX Cos. And they apparently learned to decrypt customer PIN numbers, install sophisticated software, and park payment card data in offshore databases, in what the Justice Department on Aug. 5 called the biggest hacking and identity-theft case it has ever prosecuted - compromising more than 40 million credit and debit card accounts.
Court filings and interviews with investigators paint a picture of an international ring of 11 loosely knit conspirators from China to Ukraine, and show how quickly such criminal groups can graduate to increasingly sophisticated schemes to exploit the vulnerabilities that remain in the payment card network.
That makes you wonder about what syndicate (Russia's Jewish mafia?) these guys were involved in, doesn't it?
Despite the arrests, Gartner Inc. technology analyst Avivah Litan said it's too soon to relax. Though prosecutors tied the ring to some of the biggest breaches in this decade, their cases don't mention other intrusions such as one of Maine grocer Hannaford Bros. earlier this year.
Well, what do you know?
Another Jew working at some "security" company!!! What a surprise!
Also worrisome, Litan said, was that the group allegedly was able to use fake ATM cards with real account numbers to withdraw money from bank machines, indicating they cracked the encryption of PIN numbers.
Ironically, the story of how the group of accomplices came to be begins with Gonzalez helping law enforcement officials. Though arrested in connection with theft from an automated teller machine in 2003, Gonzalez soon became a key Secret Service informant and even gave the agency security lectures.
Yeah, how "IRONIC," huh?
--more--"
That was the last reference in the article to Gonzalez's government ties, readers.
Let's go a bit deeper:
"Investigators identified two Ukrainians and one citizen of Belarus who were involved in selling stolen card numbers online. Subpoenaed e-mail messages from their accounts with Yahoo and SafeNet, an Israeli Internet company, yielded lists of numbers that were stolen in the previous war-driving thefts."
Case closed on who the THIEVES WORKED FOR!!!!
That must be where the person of "unknown origin -- a person known only by the online nickname of "Delpiero" worked!
C'mon, Zionist press; it is getting to easy see through the bullshit now.
