Thaindian News

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — The leader of the largest hacking and identity theft ring ever prosecuted by the U.S. government has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in a series of hacks into a major payment processor and several retail networks, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Albert Gonzalez, 28, of Miami, was sentenced on Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris in U.S. District Court in Boston to 20 years in prison for conspiracy, computer fraud wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft related to hacks into numerous major U.S. retailers.

Another indictment in New York charged Gonzalez with conspiracy to commit wire fraud relating to his breach of the electronic payment systems of the Dave and Buster’s restaurant chain.

Gonzalez was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term and to pay a fine of $25,000.

On Friday, Gonzalez was also sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to 20 years and one day in prison for two counts of conspiracy relating to his efforts to assist others in gaining access to the payment card networks of Heartland Payment Systems, a New Jersey-based card processor.

“Computer hackers and identity thieves pose serious risks to our commercial, personal and financial security,” stated U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Benton J. Campbell. “Today’s sentence should serve as a warning to would-be hackers everywhere, including those who commit their crimes from abroad - you will be found, prosecuted and convicted.”

Gonzalez and his co-conspirators broke into retail credit card payment systems through a series of sophisticated techniques, including “wardriving” and installation of sniffer programs to capture credit and debit card numbers used at the victim retail stores.