Albert Gonzalez (born 1981) is a computer hacker and computer criminal who is accused of masterminding the combined credit card theft and subsequent reselling of more than 170 million card and ATM numbers from 2005 through 2007—the biggest such fraud in history.
Gonzalez and his accomplices used sql injection and packet sniffer malware software to create backdoors to several corporate systems in order to steal computer data.
During his spree he was said to have to thrown himself a $75,000 birthday party and complained about having to count $340,000 by hand after his currency-counting machine broke. Gonzalez stayed at lavish hotels but his formal homes were modest.
Gonzalez is currently awaiting the outcome of three federal indictments:
May 2008 in New York for the Dave & Busters case (trial schedule September 2009)
May 2008 in Massachusetts for the TJ Maxx case (trial scheduled early 2010)
August 2009 in New Jersey in connection with the Heartland Payment case.
His parents, who had immigrated to the United States from Cuba in the 1970s, bought him his first computer when he was 8. By the age of 9 he was reported to be actively removing computer viruses.
Gonzalez, a Cuban-American, attended South Miami High School in Miami, Florida where he was described as the "troubled" pack leader of computer nerds. In his senior year at the school he and friend used the library computer to hack into system of the government of India where they left messages about their culture. Reportedly India had to cancel government checks as a result. Gonzalez was not charged and was warned to stay away from a computer for six months. In 2000 he moved to New York City where he lived for three months before moving to Kearny, New Jersey.