Breach, Data Security, Security Strategy, Plan, Budget

Two Russian nationals sentenced for data breach that compromised 160M cards

Two Russian Nationals were given U.S. federal prison sentences for their respective roles in a 2013 data breach which compromised 160 million credit card numbers and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

Vladimir Drinkman, 37, and Dmitriy Smilianets, 34, along with three other codefendants admitted to carrying out one of the country's largest hacking operations affecting entities including Dow Jones, NASDAQ, JCPenney, JetBlue, Heartland Payment Systems, TJX, Hannaford Bros. and 7-Eleven with three of the affected organizations claiming reported losses in excess of $300 million, according to a Feb. 15 DOJ press release

Drinkman was sentenced to 144 months in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit unauthorized access of protected computers and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a manner affecting a financial institution. Smilianets was sentenced to 51 months and 21 days in prison along with five years of supervised release after he pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a manner affecting a financial institution.

“Drinkman and Smilianets not only stole over 160 million credit card numbers from credit card processors, banks, retailers, and other corporate victims, they also used their bounty to fuel a robust underground market for hacked information,” Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan said in the release.

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