Albert Gonzalez, convicted for his involvement in hacking the TJX corporate network, was paid $75,000 a year as an informant by the U.S. Secret Service.

"Gonzalez's salary highlights how entwined he was with the government at the time he participated in the largest identity theft crimes in U.S. history," writes Threat Level's Kim Zetter. "Gonzalez, 28, is set for sentencing this week on three indictments covering nearly every headline-making bank-card theft in recent years, including intrusions at TJX, Office Max, Hannaford Brothers, 7-Eleven and Heartland Payment Systems (which alone exposed magstripe data on 130 million credit and debit cards)."

"The hacker’s plea agreements contemplate a total prison term of between 17 and 25 years," Zetter writes.

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