http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/04/countrywide_data_heist/ By Dan Goodin in San Francisco The Register 4th August 2008 A financial analyst for Countrywide Home Financial, one of the world's biggest and most troubled mortgage lenders, has been arrested and charged with stealing personal information concerning a breathtaking number of the company's customers. Rene Rebollo, 36, of Pasadena, California, downloaded 20,000 customer profiles including names and social security numbers just about every week for about two years, according to documents filed in federal court in Los Angeles. He would then sell the purloined information for about $500 per 20,000 profiles to various buyers. He netted as much as $70,000 through the scheme, prosecutors alleged. Although Countrywide had technology in place to disable flash drives on employee computers, Rebollo was able to circumvent the safeguard by making use of a PC that didn't have it installed. Countrywide is one of the biggest providers of subprime mortgages, which offered people with bad credit housing loans. In many cases, the loans came with low introductory interest rates that would eventually reset to much higher rates. Attorneys general from Illinois and California have sued the lender for practices that were allegedly unfair and deceptive. [...] _______________________________________________ Attend Black Hat USA, August 2-7 in Las Vegas, the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts. Featuring 40 hands-on training courses and 80 Briefings presentations with lots of new content and new tools. Network with 4,000 delegates from 50 nations. Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in a relaxed setting. http://www.blackhat.comReceived on Tue Aug 05 2008 - 02:09:33 PDT
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