International hacker pleads guilty

Posted by Caitlin on December 30th, 2009

In August, Albert Gonzalez was indicted for his role as ringleader of a massive hacking operation targeting Heartland Payment Systems, 7-11, and supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers. The hack resulted in the theft of data for more than 130 million credit and debit cards. Authorities have called it the largest identity fraud scam in U.S. history.

Gonzalez has already pleaded guilty to charges of computer fraud and identity theft for previous data breaches, and yesterday he pleaded guilty to similar charges related to the Heartland Payment Systems breach. His sentencing is set for March, and he will faces several sentences of up to 20 to 25 years in prison. Gonzalez has admitted to drug and alcohol abuse, and his lawyers have suggested that he may have Asperger's Disorder.

Albert Gonzalez may be the most infamous hacker and identity thief of the moment, but there are plenty more like him. One way to protect your credit and debit card numbers from hackers like him is to invest in an identity theft protection service.