Lexis-Nexis Breach Linked to Crime FamilyAnalyst: 'Days of Amateurs Committing Breaches are Well Behind Us'July 17, 2009 - Linda McGlasson, Managing EditorLexis-Nexis made public notification of a data breach that federal authorities say is tied to a New York mafia crime family. The New York-based company has sent more than 13,000 letters to former customers whose personal data may be at risk. The 13,000 customers may have been targeted for extortion and identity theft.
Earlier in May, the U.S. Attorney General's office in Southern District of Florida handed down an indictment charging 11 men with racketeering conspiracy. The 11 had ties to the Bonnano organized crime family.
.....The alleged suspect, Lee Klein, one of the 11 charged in the indictment, "was an employee of a former Seisint customer who misused his employer's Accurint access. As such, we notified all individuals whose information could have been viewed in connection with the limited searches that law enforcement believed were unauthorized. We provided notice in accordance with the law because the customer was no longer in business," the Lexis-Nexis representative says.
Accurint is used by law enforcement and other entities to verify identity and locate people. Lexis-Nexis says 13,329 letters were sent to individuals on behalf of Seisint's former customer in connection with this investigation. ....How it Happened
According to the indictment, Klein worked for the criminal "crew" of Thomas Fiore, an associate of the Bonanno organized crime family.The indictment alleges that Klein illegally used "information obtained from computer databases in order to acquire identification information regarding potential victims of extortion" and people suspected by Fiore's criminal organization of being involved with law enforcement.
Klein allegedly provided Fiore with "corporation names, addresses and account numbers to facilitate the manufacture and negotiation of counterfeit checks."
In addition, the indictment alleges that members of the criminal crew used threats of force and violence, including conspiracy to commit murder, to advance the objectives of the enterprise.
...The Bonanno crime family was making money from the sale of unauthorized identification documents (including social security numbers and health and life insurance applications). "If the mafia considers that selling sensitive information is a legitimate line of business, then clearly the days of just amateurs committing breaches are well behind us," Holland observes. (Full text at www.bankinfosecurity.com)
I used to use Lexis-Nexis while in law enforcement to track down criminals on the run. I was impressed when I used their system to run my own name and it generated about a 12 page report including all my neighbors (from 3 previous addresses) and their contact information as well.
Ya gotta love technology!
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