Albert Gonzalez | |
|---|---|
 Photo of Albert Gonzalez by U.S. Secret Service (pre-2009) | |
| Born | 1981 (age 42–43) |
| Other names |
|
| Criminal status | Released |
| Criminal charge | Hacking |
| Penalty | 20 years federal prison |
Albert Gonzalez (born 1981) is an American computer hacker, computer criminal and police informer,[1] who is accused of masterminding the combined credit card theft and subsequent reselling of more than 170 million card and ATM numbers from 2005 to 2007, the biggest such fraud in history. Gonzalez and his accomplices used SQL injection to deploy backdoors on several corporate systems in order to launch packet sniffing (specifically, ARP spoofing) attacks which allowed him to steal computer data from internal corporate networks.[2]
During his spree, he was said to have thrown himself a $75,000 birthday party and complained about having to count $340,000 by hand after his currency-counting machine broke. Gonzalez stayed at lavish hotels but his formal homes were modest.[3] He, along with his team, were featured on the 5th-season episode of the CNBC series American Greed titled: "Episode 40: Hackers: Operation Get Rich or Die Tryin'".[4]
Gonzalez had three federal indictments. The first was in May 2008 in New York for the Dave & Busters case (trial schedule September 2009). The second was in May 2008 in Massachusetts for the TJ Maxx case (trial scheduled early 2010). The third was in August 2009 in New Jersey in connection with the Heartland Payment case.[5] On March 25, 2010, Gonzalez was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.[6]
- ^ Stone, Brad (2008-08-12). "Global Trail of an Online Crime Ring". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
- ^ Claire Suddath (19 August 2009). "Master Hacker Albert Gonzalez". Time. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- ^ "From snitch to cyberthief of the century". Miami Herald. 2009-08-23. pp. 1A, 20A – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Case File: Operation Get Rich or Die Tryin'". CNBC. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
- ^ "Leader of Hacking Ring Sentenced for Massive Identity Thefts from Payment Processor and U.S. Retail Networks" Archived 2018-04-16 at the Wayback Machine, United States Department of Justice Friday, March 26, 2010 Retrieved on October 9, 2018
- ^ Department of Justice: Office of Public Affairs. (March 26, 2010). "Leader of Hacking Ring Sentenced for Massive Identity Thefts from Payment Processor and U.S. Retail Networks". Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2018.