Fergie's Tech Blog

'The Analyzer' Pleads Guilty in $10 Million Bank-Hacking Case

Kim Zetter writes on Threat Level:

Ehud Tenenbaum, aka “The Analyzer,” quietly pleaded guilty in New York last week to a single count of bank-card fraud for his role in a sophisticated computer-hacking scheme that federal officials say scored $10 million from U.S. banks.

The Israeli hacker was arrested in Canada last year for allegedly stealing about $1.5 million from Canadian banks. But before Canadian authorities could prosecute him, U.S. officials filed an extradition request to bring him to the States.

Prosecutors alleged in an extradition affidavit that Tenenbaum hacked into two U.S. banks, a credit- and debit-card distribution company and a payment processor, in what they called a global “cash-out” conspiracy. But he was only charged with one count of conspiracy to commit access-device fraud and one count of access-device fraud.

Tenenbaum is set to be sentenced Nov. 19, and he faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. Prosecutors declined to comment on the case or describe the details of his plea agreement. The second count in the indictment, charging conspiracy, appears to have been dropped.

posted by Fergie @ 8/25/2009 03:43:00 PM