US prosecutors yesterday
charged
11 people on three continents with
the theft last year of 45 million identities from credit and
debit card deal with nine US retailers, including TJX.
The identity theft is the biggest ever reported.
The thieves used the stolen identities to withdraw "tens of
thousands of dollars at a time from ATMs", said the US Department
of Justice.
The men allegedly parked outside TJX and other stores and used
laptop PCs to hack into their
unprotected wireless networks to steal the details of credit
and debit card account holders.
Those charged include three US citizens, three Ukranians, two
Chinese an Estonian, and a Belo-Russian. One who has still to be
identified, is still known only by his "handle" or online name.
TJX, which owns UK retailer TK
Maxx, announced the theft of the accounts a year ago. It has
since paid millions in compensation and damages to account holders
whose details were stolen and sold on, and to banks that were
defrauded as a result.
So, you think your network is secure? We broke in with £500 and a
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