A 28-year-old man has been charged with stealing 130 million credit card numbers in the United States. Albert Gonzales from Miami, Florida and two unnamed co-conspirators are accused of hacking into the computer networks of firms supporting major American retail and financial organisations. The US Justice Department says it is the largest hacking and identity theft case it has ever prosecuted. 

Dutch server
In 2006 Gonzales is alleged to have used a sophisticated hacking technique to get around firewalls and steal the credit and debit card information. He and two conspirators, who are believed to live in or near Russia, sent the stolen data to computer servers they operated in the Netherlands, Latvia, the United States and Ukraine.

The US Justice Department claims that they then covered their tracks using techniques that allowed them to avoid detection by anti-virus software used by their victims.

The firms targeted include a card payment processor Heartland Payment Systems; nationwide convenience store chain 7-Eleven; and Hannaford Brothers super market chain.

25 years in prison
Gonzales is charged with conspiracy and conspiracy to engage in wire fraud. If convicted he faces up to 25 years in prison and a fine of 250,000 U.S. dollars for each charge.

Other charges
Next month Gonzales is also due to go on trial in New York on separate charges of allegedly hacking into the computer network of a national restaurant chain. And in yet another case, he is accused of hacking into the computer networks of eight major retailers and stealing data related to 40 million credit cards.

Photo by Leo Reynolds (at flickr.com)