NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Four Russian nationals and a Ukrainian have been charged with running a sophisticated hacking organization that over seven years penetrated computer networks of more than a dozen major American and international corporations.
Indictments were announced Thursday in Newark, where the U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman called the case the largest hacking and data breach scheme ever prosecuted in the United States.
The hackers conservatively acquired more than 160 million credit and debit card numbers from 2005 to 2012 and sold them to resellers around the world, prosecutors said.
Losses to consumers and the corporations were put in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The victims included the electronic stock exchange Nasdaq; 7-Eleven Inc.; JCPenney Co.; the regional supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers Co.; Heartland Payment Systems Inc., one of the world's largest credit and debit processing companies, French retailer Carrefour S.A., and the Belgium bank Dexia Bank Belgium.