US spy accused of biggest ID fraud case in history
18th August 2009
A former US spy has been charged with committing the largest financial data theft ever seen in the US.
Albert Gonzalez has been accused of stealing data relating to 130 million credit and debit cards with two Russian accomplices.
He used a complicated technique known as an SQL injection attack to infiltrate corporate victims, which included companies such as Heartland Payment Systems, to penetrate firewall networks and steal information.
Mr Gonzalez has been held in custody since May 2008 for his alleged role in hacking a national restaurant chain, but the indictment was upgraded with further accusations in August 2008.
He faces up to 25 years in prison in addition to a fine of $250,000 if he is found guilty of the two charges of wire fraud conspiracy and a standard conspiracy charge.
Operating under the pseudonyms segvec, soupnazi and j4guar17, Mr Gonzalez is also under investigation by the US Secret Service.