Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Hacking Ring Nabbed By US Authorities

Posted by samzenpus on from the go-directly-to-jail dept.

Slatterz writes "The members of a hacking ring responsible for stealing more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers from retail organizations in the US have been caught and charged. The case before the US Department of Justice is believed to be the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted. The criminals allegedly obtained bank details by hacking into the retailers' computer networks and then installing 'sniffer' programs to capture card numbers and password details as the customers moved through the retailers' credit and debit processing networks."

6 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. will there be changes? by CaptainNerdCave · · Score: 5, Informative

    are security measures going to be changed with this revelation to the public? having seen the inner-workings of various bank and investment facilities, i can safely say that one doesn't need to go through any really complicated work to take financial information from consumers: most wiring closets aren't even locked.

  2. More details by hattable · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you felt a little cheated by the lack of info in the 'article' the DOJ site has more.

    --
    OMG facts!
  3. Re:Hacking? by srjh · · Score: 5, Informative

    hacking (uncountable)

    1. (computing) Unauthorized attempts to bypass the security mechanisms of an information system or network.

    Hack

    ...4b: to gain access to a computer illegally

    You may prefer to use other definitions yourself, but the usage here is perfectly correct.

  4. Re:Hacking? by BPPG · · Score: 5, Informative

    You can bet hackers didn't write those definitions. Those definitions are accurate in the context of mainstream media, but as the GP stated, this is /.

    --
    What's the value of information that you don't know?
  5. Better Article by FSWKU · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7545212.stm has a much better write-up.

    So now we will get even MORE draconian measures to stop the "evil hackers" when in reality, it was a combination of bad intentions, and old-fashioned stupidity. The article specifically mentions looking for "vulnerable" access points. This means that whoever set the network up for these stores did not do a proper job in securing said network. Also, why the HELL were the systems used to process credit card transactions on the same insecure wireless network? There is NO excuse for that. I'm not excusing what these guys did, but once again we have a case where whoever setup the hardware in these places needs to be held for criminal negligence.

    --
    "So after all this, you make my case for me. To end this stalemate, you must die..."
  6. Re:This was in Wednesdays newspaper! by Redneck+Hacker · · Score: 5, Informative

    This was in Wednesdays newspaper!

    It was also in Tuesday's /.