The IDG News Service is reporting:
Hacker mastermind Albert Gonzalez was sentenced Thursday in U.S.
District Court to two concurrent 20-year stints in prison for his role
in what prosecutors called the "unparalleled" theft of millions of
credit card numbers from major U.S. retailers.
The retailers who suffered breaches were TJX, Office Max, DSW, and Dave & Buster's. Gonzalez was also involved in the well known breaches at Heartland Payment Systems, Hannaford Supermarkets and 7-Eleven chains.
I applaud the stiff sentence, but I don't think this will have much effect on reducing cyber crime for two reasons:
- The percentage of cyber criminals who are caught is very low.
- Much of the activity now is coming from parts of the world where getting cooperation from local governments is difficult. In fact, some believe the governments are abetting the criminals.
Read more of the details here.
