AMERICAN prosecutors may struggle to bring all the perpetrators of one of the biggest cybercrimes in history to justice, let alone recover the stolen money. But they have already given a unique glimpse into the way that the dark economy operates.
The criminal charges outlined in New York and other places on November 10th against three men said to be behind a huge hacking and fraud operation give details of how they allegedly attacked at least 12 companies, including banks, media outlets and a software firm. The proceeds, since the scams started in 2007, amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. They stole personal data relating to more than 100m people, 83m of them customers of JPMorgan Chase.