IT Pro Admits Stealing 8.4M Consumer Records

Billosaur writes "The Channel Register is reporting that a database administrator at Fidelity National Information Services, a consumer reporting agency in Florida, has admitted to stealing more than 8.4 million account records and selling them to a data broker. The DBA, William Gary Sullivan, faces up to 10 years in prison and fines of $500,000. He worked at a subsidiary of Fidelity and used his access to its database to steal customer names, addresses and financial account information, then used a business he incorporated to sell the list to an accomplice, who eventually sold it to direct marketing firms."

Comments

Did a canary sing?

[SystemFault]

A mailing list canary is a deliberately inserted entry with (usually) a false name but with real contact information. The contact data leads back to the security arm of the firm that compiled the list. The idea is that the canary sings every time the list is used, and this is but one mechanism to detect unauthorized access.

Maybe the DBA knew about the canary. With proper security, he shouldn't have. Or maybe the canary sang and that's how the guy got caught.

Re:Instead, authenticate the transaction.

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

Did you report them?