Three individuals face up to 105 years in jail between them
if found guilty of stealing the details of 130 million credit and
debit cards after hacking into the systems of a card payment
processing company.
The US Justice Department described the hack as the largest
identity theft case ever prosecuted. The three, if found guilty of
hacking into the computer systems of Heartland Payment Systems,
could be jailed for 35 years each.
In January, forensic investigators
uncovered malicious software which compromised data that
crossed the network at Heartland Payments Systems.
The number of credit card details exposed by the intrusion has
not been disclosed, but Heartland handles around 100 million
transactions a month for 250,000 US organisations.
The US Government believes the three indicted individuals were
also involved in other data breaches between October 2006 and May
2008, according to the
Washington Post.
A federal court in New Jersey heard how the government alleges
the hackers took data from 130 million payment cards.
One of the accused, 28-year-old Albert Gonzalez of Miami, was
indicted last year for his alleged role in the
TJ Maxx data breach.
"This investigation marks the continued success of law
enforcement in tracking down cutting-edge hacking schemes committed
by hackers working together across the globe," said Ralph J. Marra
Jr., acting US attorney for the district of New Jersey, according
to the Washington Post.
The two other individuals accused are from Russia.
Picture:
Rex Features