Fast Facts On World's Most Famous Hacker

In an article written by Claire Suddath at Time Magazine, they profile "Master Hacker: Albert Gonzalez...here are their "fast facts:"

Fast Facts:

• The 28-year-old lives in Miami, Fla.
  
  


• Has operated under the Internet handles "Segvec," "Soupnazi," and "J4guar"
  
  


• Charged with hacking into retail and card processing computers to steal 130 million credit and debit card numbers between 2006 and 2008. The compromised companies include Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven, two unnamed national retailers and Hannaford Brothers, a regional supermarket chain
  
  


• Gonzales had previously been indicted — once in May 2008 and again in August of the same year — for allegedly stealing 40 million credit and debit cards from companies including OfficeMax, TJ Maxx, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21, DSW and Dave & Buster's
  
  


• Arrested in New Jersey in 2003 while working as an administrator on the underground 4,000-member website Shadowcrew.com, a site on which hackers swapped stolen credit card information
  
  


• After his arrest, he began working with Secret Service agents on something called "Operation Firewall," in which Gonzalez — operating under the handle "CumbaJohny" — convinced Shadowcrew members to join his virtual private network (VPN) that was secretly monitored by federal agents. In October 2004, 28 hackers were arrested through the operation, although federal agents claim Gonzalez tipped off some of the suspects, helping them to sidestep authorities|
  
  


• After the sting, Gonzalez changed his nickname to "Segvec" and moved to Miami, where he allegedly started a new identity theft ring called "Operation Get Rich or Die Tryin'"
  
  


• According to the Aug. 17 indictment, Gonzalez teamed up with two Russian programmers to hack into corporate computer networks and install "malware," or malicious software, that allowed them to steal data
  
  


• Heartland Payment Systems, which processes credit-card data for over 250,000 businesses, accounts for most of the 130 million numbers cited in the New Jersey indictment. The company has so far spent $12.6 million in legal costs and fines associated with the security breach
  
  


• The government is seeking forfeiture of Gonzalez's Miami condo, his BMW, a firearm, a currency counter and nearly $1.7 million in cash
  
  


• Gonzalez's lawyer, Rene Palomino Jr., has so far refused interview requests regarding the matter and has issued no comment

Quotes about:

"I always thought he was Russian."

— An unnamed member
of the underground identity theft community, saying that no one
realized that 'CumbaJohny' and 'Segvec' were the same person. (Wired.com, Aug. 5, 2008)


"This guy worked very, very hard at something he was very good at."

— Assistant U.S. Attorney Erez Liebermann of the Justice Department's New Jersey branch (Newsday, Aug. 17, 2009)


"He's here on U.S. soil. That was his big flaw. If he were anywhere else, he's not going to jail.'"

— Dan Clements, president of CardCops, which tracks stolen credit-card data online. (The New York Times, Aug. 18, 2009)

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• Master Hacker Albert Gonzalez (time.com)


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