gonzalez

Take a Sony Aibo and cross it with a Samsonite. Congratulations, you have the world's most loyal piece of luggage, the Hop. Hop is a suitcase that automatically follows you around.

The suitcase is stocked with three receivers that triangulate the user's phone's position over Bluetooth. A microcontroller does the calculations and keeps it at a close distance. The suitcase is security-minded. If it gets lost, the user's phone will vibrate and Hop will lock itself up tight. … Read more

At 1,588, it's the final episode of Buzz Out Loud, the podcast that launched a thousand news stories, arguments, hosts and co-hosts, producers, and good times. We packed the studio full -- Tom Merritt, Veronica Belmont, Jason Howell, Rafe Needleman, Donald Bell, plus, of course, Molly Wood, Brian Tong, and Stephen Beacham...and it's possible there was some Champagne, a little whiskey, some cake, and even a couple of news stories. Oh, and tears. Definitely tears.

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Albert Gonzalez, the hacker who pleaded guilty to leading one of the largest cases of credit card theft in the U.S., is asking a judge to toss out the pleas, arguing that they were part of his assignments as a paid government informant.

"I still believe that I was acting on behalf of the United States Secret Service and that I was authorized and directed to engage in the conduct I committed as part of my assignment to gather intelligence and seek out international cybercriminals," Gonzalez wrote in a 25-page petition filed March 24 with the U.… Read more

Albert Gonzalez, the computer hacker behind one of the largest known identity fraud cases in U.S. history, was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in federal prison.

Gonzalez, a 28-year-old college dropout and Secret Service informant known as "soupnazi," had confessed to stealing millions of credit card and debit card numbers from major U.S. retail chains, including T.J.Maxx, BJ's Wholesale Club, and Barnes & Noble.

U.S. District Judge Patti Saris in Boston sentenced Gonzalez to the middle of expected prison sentences for charges filed in Massachusetts and New York, which ranged from … Read more

A Miami hacker who had already pleaded guilty to computer fraud and identity theft for breaches at retailers T.J.Maxx, OfficeMax, and many other merchants, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to similar charges related to breaches at Heartland Payment Systems, 7-11, Hannaford Brothers supermarkets, and two other companies.

Albert Gonzalez, 28, reiterated terms of a plea agreement in U.S. District Court in Boston. A week earlier, co-conspirator Stephen Watt of New York, appeared in that same court and was ordered to serve two years in prison and pay $171.5 million in restitution for developing a sniffing program used … Read more

A 28-year-old Miami man who made millions breaking into computer networks and stealing credit card numbers pleaded guilty on Friday and agreed to forfeit more than $2.7 million in restitution, as well as a condo, jewelry, and a car.

Albert Gonzalez, a former federal government informant and the alleged ringleader of one of the largest known identity theft cases in U.S. history, pleaded guilty as expected to 19 counts of conspiracy, computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft related to theft of credit and debit card data from TJX Companies (owner of T.J.… Read more

Albert Gonzalez, the alleged ringleader of one of the largest known identity theft cases in U.S. history, has agreed to plead guilty to all 19 counts of related charges against him, according to court documents filed Friday.

Gonzalez, 28, of Miami, was accused in August 2008 of helping steal millions of credit card and debit card numbers from major U.S. retail chains. Among the retailers hacked were TJX Companies (owner of T.J.Maxx), BJ's Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever21, and DSW.

Under the plea agreement filed with the U.S. … Read more

New stuff coming out in the White House email saga. When last we reported we had been told about 50 staffers used private e-mail service while at work. And we explained how hard it would be to truly delete any of those e-mails. Now the congressional investigators say at least 88 White House staff members used a private e-mail service provided by the Republican National Committee (RNC). So far Congress and the RNC have spent two months negotiating about access to those e-mails and even data about the e-mails.

Today's reports say adviser Karl Rove alone has more than 150,000 e-mails still on RNC servers. … Read more