The former government informant facing three separate indictments for allegedly being behind the largest data breaches in U.S. history is being offered a plea deal, U.S. and defense attorneys confirmed today. The plea negotiations with Albert Gonzalez, 28, of Miami, Fla., who was indicted Monday for the third time in connection with major data breaches,…
8 indicted in $22m fraud against AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile
An indictment was unsealed in Brooklyn federal court this morning charging Courtney Beckford, Gabe Beizem, Rawl Davis, Lennox Lambert, Marsha Montayne, Saul Serrano, Ron Shealey, and Rohan Stewart, with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. Beizem, Montayne, and Stewart were also charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The charges were announced…
Gonzalez: The Al Capone Of Cyber Thieves?
Evan Schuman and Fred J. Aun have a well-written commentary on the recent indictment of Albert Gonzalez and two unnamed co-conspirators that highlights the questions left unanswered by the indictment, and the apparent contradictions between statements made. As one example, they write: For example, 7-Eleven is a new name in the breach circle, and the…
Hackers break into police computer as sting backfires
An Australian Federal Police boast, on the ABC’s Four Corners program, about officers breaking up an underground hacker forum, has backfired after hackers broke into a federal police computer system. Security consultants say police appear to have been using the computer as a honeypot to collect information on members of the forum but the scheme…
Radisson breach affects N. American guests
The Associated Press has an item about Radisson Hotels & Resorts notifying guests of a breach that involved their credit card numbers. And I see that on Radisson’s site, they have posted a letter to guests: Radisson values your business and respects the privacy of your information, which is why we wish to inform you…
Surgeon resigns from Washington University
It seems that every day, there’s a new article on ethical charges or issues involving research. The recent revelations about prominent clinical researchers getting fees from pharmaceutical companies that they did not disclose and even more recent revelations about pharmaceutical firms “ghost writing” research reports and paying doctors to put their names on them are…