[ISN] Document Reveals TJX Hacker’s Assistance to Prosecutors

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/12/gonzalez-memo/

By Kim Zetter
Threat Level
Wired.com
December 15, 2009

Admitted TJX hacker Albert Gonzalez has identified two Russian 
accomplices who helped him hack into numerous companies and steal more 
than 130 million credit and debit card numbers.

Gonzalez told prosecutors that the hackers breached at least four card 
processing companies, as well as a series of foreign banks, a brokerage 
house and several retail store chains, according to a sentencing memo 
filed by his lawyer on Tuesday that was incorrectly redacted.

The document reveals that six months after his May 2008 arrest, Gonzalez 
located and provided prosecutors with the "complicated" and "lengthy" 
password to decrypt his laptop, which contained "a vast array of 
historical data and communications" that helped the government indict 
other members of Gonzalez's team, and could be used in future search 
warrants. It also reveals that Gonzalez drew prosecutors a map that 
helped them find more than $1.1 million that he had buried in his 
parents' backyard.

Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 21 for intrusions into 
TJX, Dave & Busters restaurant chain and numerous other companies, 
though his sentencing is likely to be delayed. On Tuesday, the 
government asked for an 8-12 week continuance to give Gonzalez a 
psychological examination, in response to a new defense claim that the 
hacker might suffer from Asperger’s syndrome, and may not have the 
"capacity to knowingly evaluate the wrongfulness of his actions."

[...]


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