Even in these trying times, credit is just a few keystrokes, some malware, and a sniffer away. Right in your back door.

In what is believed to be the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice, three men were charged today with stealing over 130 million credit and debit card account numbers. According to the USDOJ, the three hacked into Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven, the Hannaford Brothers supermarket chain, and two unnamed corporations.

Note that this is only believed to be the largest case of its kind ever prosecuted by the USDOJ. There are still hundreds of millions of similar thefts that have not been prosecuted.

You may recall one of the men, 28-year-old Albert Gonzalez of Miami, was previously charged with stealing data related to 40 million credit cards from eight major retailers, including TJ Maxx, and possibly BJ's Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21, and DSW.

Read more @ CNet News (http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10311336-245.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20)

About Jeff M. Fischbach

Jeff Michael Fischbach is founder and President of SecondWave Information Systems (SecondWave.com), a consulting firm specializing in Forensic Technology. Since 1994, he has served as a board member and technology adviser to numerous professional organizations and corporations. Mr. Fischbach has been engaged as a litigation consultant and Forensic Examiner, offering expert advice and oversight on matters involving intellectual property, computers, information systems, satellite, tracking and wireless communications technologies. He has advised law enforcement, foreign government representatives, judges, lawyers and the press.