Operation Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Still Lives
Albert "Segvec" Gonzalez
Operation Get Rich or Die Tryin is the name that Albert Gonzalez gave to his scheme of stealing more than 130 million credit and debit card numbers from you and me. Today, Gonzalez, along with two unnamed Russian conspirators, was indicted in the state of New Jersey. Gonzalez, known by his alias of Segvec, was part of a cyber-crime ring that hacked into the computer systems of at least five major companies, including Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven, TJMAXX, Hannaford Bros. Super Markets and Dave & Busters.
This is likely the largest case of identity theft ever prosecuted, comprising more that 130 million card numbers
Tactics: Gonzalez and his conspirators reviewed Fortune 500 Companies, performed reconnaissance on their retail stores, determined weaknesses in their payment systems and then utilized malware (malicious software) to intercept credit card numbers, expiration dates and names as they were transmitted from company to company
The crimes occurred between 2006-2008
In the strangest twist, it turns out that Albert Gonzalez was an informant for the Secret Service… on a card theft case. He took part in an undercover operation dubbed “Operation Firewall” that netted the arrest of 28 criminals (excluding himself) in 2004. After the operation was completed, Gonzalez took on the nick (nickname) of Segvec, moved to Miami, and took up his criminal ways once again.
Lesson #1: IDENTITY THEFT IS TOO EASY and too profitable to give up. Lesson #2: The Secret Service just got socially engineered! They allowed an enemy inside the gates and gave him intimate knowledge of an operation that taught him how to up the stakes and go undetected for years.
His Russian counterparts will likely never be caught or prosecuted, and will make use of everything they have learned from the latest indictments. Somewhere in the case, there is a weakness they will exploit. Operation Get Rich or Die Tryin isn’t exactly dead.
John Sileo became America’s leading Identity Theft Speaker & Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC. To further bulletproof yourself and your business, learn more about John Sileo.
Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.
Connect with Sileo
The Sileo Report Newsletter Signup
Get monthly strategies and tips for protecting yourself and your business delivered right to your Inbox. Signup now and you'll immediately receive John's 7 Survival Strategies for Starving Data Spies!
1 Trackbacks/Pingbacks
1 Responses to Operation Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Still Lives
Merely want to say your article is astounding. The lucidity in your post is simply spectacular and i can assume you are an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your rss feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the solid work.