Infamous Cybercriminal Agrees to Plead Guilty to TJX Hack

In 2007 it was discovered that one of the most famous department store chains in the United States, TJX Companies, Incorporated, had been the subject of a data breach that caused 45.7 million accounts to be compromised over nearly a two-year period. The one responsible for what some have called one of the largest known identity theft cases in U.S. history? Albert Gonzalez, a 28 year-old Miami native, who has finally agreed to plead guilty to all 19 counts of related charges against him.

Not only was Gonzalez accused of helping to steal millions of credit and debit card details from TJX Companies, but also BJ's Wholesale Club, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, OfficeMax, Sports Authority, DSW and Forever21. The charges put forward against Gonzalez consist of conspiracy, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering, which will result in him serving a sentence of 15 to 25 years in prison, as was stated in the plea agreement filed with the U.S. Attorneys Office in Boston.

While already imprisoned in relation to other charges pending, Gonzalez will be required to forfeit a range of personal belongings, such as his Miami condominium, a 2006 BMW, several computers, three Rolex watches, and almost $3 million in cash. This agreement goes on to resolve the 2008 charges to be resolved in a federal court in New York for breaking into the computer network of Dave & Buster’s restaurant chain.

Gonzalez, known online under the handle of "soupnazi", received his first computer when he was just a boy, and in high school, used a computer in the school’s library to hack into an Indian government website. The FBI were called, but the young Gonzalez was not charged. In 2003, he was arrested for hacking but not charged, as authorities had decided to retain Gonzalez as an informant. Unfortunately, over the next five years, Gonzalez continued to hack into the computer systems of Fortune 500 companies even while providing assistance to the government.

This eventually culminated in Gonzalez being indicted recently in New Jersey, along with two unnamed Russian men, on charges of hacking into Heartland Payment Systems, the 6th largest credit card processor in the United States, along with other systems for 7-Eleven, the Hannaford Brothers supermarket chain, and two other corporate victims who wish to remain anonymous. The trio of hackers allegedly also stole more than 130 million credit and debit card details, and the attack has been called the largest data breach case in U.S. history.