Creator of TJX sniffer program sentenced

A New York man who admitted to providing the "sniffer" program that was used to hijack credit card numbers as they traversed the networks of a number of merchants, including TJX, was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised release. Stephen Watt, 25, additionally was ordered to pay $171.5 million in restitution, according to a statement last week from the U.S. attorney's office in Boston. Watt pleaded guilty in October 2008 to being part of a cybercrime syndicate that ripped off more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers between 2003 and 2007. Watt's friend and ringleader Alberto Gonzalez is still awaiting sentencing. — DK