LexisNexis Data Breach Tied to The Mob

In what is appearing to be the most serious data breach of business data provider LexisNexis (this is their second official breach), the company is alerting customers that their personal information may have been obtained by a Mafia-connected criminal group. A notification about the breach was sent to the New Hampshire State Department of Justice and LexisNexis claimed that company employee Lee Klein abused his access to a software product of Seisent, a unit of the company. According to the grand jury indictment, Klein acted as part of a team led by Thomas Fiore, an associate of the Bonanno crime family.

This is certainly not a surprise to see that the mafia is involved in stealing personal data. Although this article is a few years old, it points out that identity theft and cyber crime has been a boon for the mafia. We guess they have branched out from the garbage, vending machine and gambling businesses.