TJX: What if it hadn't happened?

Albert Gonzalez, the man accused of hacking into major retailers such as TJX Cos., Hannaford Brothers Co. Inc. and 7-Eleven plead guilty today in Boston district court. It's been a long-road for him to come to justice, and it makes us think about how things would be different had that "major" hack into TJX's servers not happened. How long would it have taken for something like PCI compliance to happen?

That singular event was the major catalyst behind PCI compliance and the need to secure data relating to credit cards. In many ways, it was an after-thought before.

From Mass High Tech:
Accused of conspiracy in the hacking attacks on payment systems supporting companies such as retailers TJX Cos., Hannaford Brothers Co. Inc. and 7-Eleven, Albert Gonzalez, 28, of Miami, today pleaded guilty to the final charges against him in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Federal prosecutors said that Gonzalez, who allegedly controlled servers that gained access to the corporate servers and then gave information to hackers that would use malware to launch attacks on the victims, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy on an indictment issued in New Jersey, which involved breaches at Hannaford and Heartland Payment Systems. He had earlier pleaded guilty to charges brought in Boston and New York, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. As part of a plea agreement, Gonzalez won’t seek a prison sentence of less than 17 years, and prosecutors won’t seek a term of more than 25 years.

The Department of Justice said that the co-conspirators stole tens of millions of credit and debit card numbers affecting more than 250 financial institutions.