West Palm Beach, South Florida (JusticeNewsFlash.com – News Report) –- Access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy, computer fraud, and wire fraud are the charges being brought against Albert Gonzales, Christopher Scott and Damon Patrick Toey and possibly eight other co-conspirators. The Secret Service has finally cracked the case for the WLAN hackers of nine major retailers (including TJX, Office Max and Sports Authority) and online sale of over 40 million credit and debit card numbers that has been going on for almost four years.
According to reports, once the men had access to the WLAN network, they installed sniffer programs that stored the credit card numbers, which were placed on false credit card strips then sold to buyers. They also used the cards to withdraw large amount of cash. The sniffer they installed at one restaurant aided them in obtaining 5,000 credit card numbers. The other criminals involved comprised of a broad range of countries, which helped to conceal their illegal activity. Furthermore, what masked their offenses was that most of the data was stored and coded overseas. Sources state the one of the members was making more than $11 million from the fraud.
There are serious consequences for those who illegally gain access to private information on private networks. Gonzales may be sentenced to a lifetime in prison. Currently, there are companies that specialize in impeding the way hackers acquire private information. Meru Networks has recently developed and is now marketing ‘RF Barrier’ which is designed to block hackers and maintain the companies’ information solely within that company. Although technology is easy and convenient, it can still be dangerous if used illegally.
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