Super Hacker Swipes 130M Credit Cards: Largest Ever

The gang accused of one of the biggest online security heists ever have been indicted over the incident. The alleged ringleader, a government informant gone bad, has also been charged with other high-profile breaches.

Albert Gonzalez was formally charged with breaking into the networks of payment processing firm Heartland Payment Systems, regional supermarket Hannaford Brothers, and three national retailers including 7-Eleven. His alleged loot from these attacks was 130 million credit and debit card numbers.

Two other accomplices are listed in the indictment but not named, referred to only as being of Russian citizenship. It's suggested that the accomplices have not been captured or identified at this stage.

Heartland Heist Hits Hard

It appears the Heartland heist was the one reported on inauguration day this year, on which date the firm admitted it had been the victim of a 2008 attack. That was particularly serious, as the firm handles card processing for about 250,000 businesses worldwide, covering 100 million transactions.

As Gonzalez has been in custody on other offences since May 2008, it appears that, unless he masterminded the Heartland attack from behind bars, the case was kept quiet by officials for much longer than was previously realized.

Gonzalez Faces Previous Offenses

The new charges, filed in New Jersey, won't lead to a trial any time soon.

Gonzalez must first go through the judicial process on previous hacking charges. He faces a New York trial for allegedly stealing data from the Dave & Buster's chain of restaurants. He also must stand trial in Massachusetts over a string of card data thefts associated with the TJ Maxx chain. (Source: thestar.com)

One assistant U.S. attorney told the New York Times that Gonzalez's involvement in so many high-profile crimes means "perhaps the individuals capable of such conduct are a tighter-knit group than may have been previously thought." (Source: nytimes.com)

Gonzalez was arrested in 2003 for a computer-related crime and was persuaded to act as an informant to help identify other hackers. However, officials now say he double-crossed the government and tipped the hacking community off about the investigations.