Feds Identify the Young Russians Behind the Top U.S. Cyber Thefts in Last 7 Years

Cyber thefts

Four Russians and one Ukrainian have been charged with masterminding a massive hacking spree that was responsible for stealing more than 160 million bank card numbers from companies in the U.S. over a seven-year period.

The alleged hackers were behind some of the most notorious breaches for which hacker Albert Gonzalez was convicted in 2010 and is currently serving multiple 20-year sentences simultaneously. The indictments clear up a years-long mystery about two hackers involved in those attacks who were known previously only as Grig and Annex and were listed in indictments against Gonzalez as working with him to breach several large U.S. businesses, but who have not been identified until now.

The hackers continued their activities long after Gonzalez was convicted, however. According to the indictment, filed in New Jersey, their spree ran from 2005 to July 2012, penetrating the networks of several of the largest payment processing companies in the world, as well as national retail outlets and financial institutions in the U.S. and elsewhere, resulting in losses exceeding $300 million to the companies.

Feds Identify the Young Russians Behind the Top U.S. Cyber Thefts in Last 7 Years | The Wired

Five charged as Feds bust largest credit-card hack in history

Hundreds of millions stolen from biggest names in US

NASDAQ hacked

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey say they've busted what could be the biggest credit card hacking fraud in US history, with companies such as NASDAQ, 7-Eleven, and Dow Jones falling prey to an Eastern European criminal gang.

According to the indictment, the gang stole data on up to 160 million credit cards and then sold them on in underground forums so that they could be written onto blank cards and be used to withdraw funds. The losses for just three of the many companies they targeted came to over $300m, according to the authorities.

"This type of crime is the cutting edge. Those who have the expertise and the inclination to break into our computer networks threaten our economic well-being, our privacy, and our national security," said US Attorney Paul Fishman in a statement.

"This case shows there is a real practical cost because these types of frauds increase the costs of doing business for every American consumer, every day. We cannot be too vigilant and we cannot be too careful."

Up to 160 million credit cards stolen from NASDAQ | The Register