TJX hacker gets 20 years.

• Position: DATA SECURITY - TJX Companies Inc.

The hacker who led a team of thieves in stealing more than 90 million credit and debit card numbers from TJX and other retailers received a 20-year prison sentence, the longest ever imposed in the United States for hacking or identity theft, according to Wired.

Before the sentence was announced, Albert Gonzalez told the court he deeply regretted his crimes. He had argued in court filings that he was motivated by technical curiosity and an obsession with conquering computer networks. But chat logs the government obtained revealed that Gonzalez told one of his accomplices that his goal was to earn $15 million, buy a yacht, and then retire.

Gonzalez had faced a sentence of 15-25 years for the TJX breaches. In handing down his 20-year sentence and $25,000 fine, U.S. District Judge Patti Saris said she was disturbed that Gonzalez committed his crimes while working as a paid informant for the U.S. Secret Service. (Gonzalez committed his crimes between 2005 and 2008, when he was earning $75,000 working undercover for the government.) She added that her restitution order, to be set at a future hearing, will be large.

In its sentencing memo, the government stated that companies, banks, and insurers lost close to $200 million as a result of Gonzalez's exploits, and that the...