TJX sniffer author jailed for two years The malware coder who wrote the sniffer program used in the infamous TJX credit card heist has been jailed for two years. Stephen Watt, 25, from New York, was also order to spend a further three years on probation following his release. He was also ordered to pay $171.5m in restitution. Watts was part of a gang led by Alberto …
2 years in jail vs the chance of getting that kind of cash
hmmm
What happens if he can't come up with the full amount? He must have lost a large proportion in laundering costs along the way, unless thats what hes got left over.
In which cash, he prooves crime does pay (and very nicely too)
"Watt modified and provided a 'sniffer' program used by the conspirators to monitor and capture the data crossing TJX’s computer network".
How much jail time did the TJX technical people get for not noticing the presence of such a 'sniffer' program for up to ten months, until the external banks noticed the fraud. Why didn't TJX use end-to-end encryption. I mean it is an online bank. Perhaps thieves would try and knock it over ?
I assume they were 'PCI DSS' complaint, which begs the question as to what use it is, apart from giving some bureaucrat another form to fill in ...
When sentenced to restitution, it merely means that all known assetts may be targeted and tagged for sale or liquidation to pay it off. Any amount left over is setup on a payment schedule with the Prosecutor's Office (or Clerk's Office depending on the Court) based on known salary so that the person may maintain a "liveable wage".
This could last all the rest of his life, if they don't find the funds (not necessarily cash) he stole and only have purchased items, goods, etc. that he held onto or stored. Perpetually paying up to 50% of his weekly gross wage... which could be around $175 if he lands minimum wage.
But, if they find the remainder of the funds, he tries to access them, etc. or anything else they want to harrass him for while under the payment structure, it provides an easy in for them.
The $171 million probably doesn't even cover the losses this criminal caused. All criminals should make financial restitution, cover costs of prosecution plus costs of incarceration and then be punished for their crimes. Perhaps for every $10K they are short of paying the above costs of crime, they should have a year added to their sentence. Punishment for crimes is meant to be a deterrent. Life in prison is a pretty good deterrent for many criminals.
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