TJX DATA THEFT: LARGEST EVER
March 30th, 2007pOwNed on an unimaginable scale.
Via: Network World:
Detailing the sheer magnitude of a crime first reported earlier this year, TJX yesterday disclosed in financial reports that at least 45.6 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen in 2005 and another 130,000 last year by hackers who have yet to be caught.
According to Gartner security expert Avivah Litan, the volume of stolen data gives TJX the dubious distinction of being the biggest known victim of hacker-based card fraud in history.
“This is the biggest card heist we’ve heard of so far,†said Litan, an expert in e-commerce-related security.
TJX, which has 125,000 employees and operates hundreds of T.J. Maxx and other stores in the United States and the United Kingdom, did not immediately return a call for comment about the investigation. Earlier this year TJX publicly stated it had contacted law enforcement in December 2006 when it “learned of suspicious software†within its computer systems.
