Advertiser Charged in Massive Database Theft
Federal authorities yesterday charged an online advertiser in Florida with tapping into the computer system of a large database marketer in Arkansas and
stealing "vast amounts of personal information" about Americans in what they described as one of the largest network intrusions in recent memory.
In an indictment filed in the Eastern District of Arkansas, federal prosecutors charged Scott Levine, 45, of Boca Raton with 139 counts for allegedly
exploiting network links his company had to Acxiom Corp. in Little Rock to secretly download millions of names, e-mail and home addresses and other
details.
Levine was identified as the owner of Snipermail, an e-mail company that mailed out pitches for advertisers or their brokers. Acxiom, one of the world's
largest data aggregators, has information about virtually every adult in America. It also manages and enhances data for major banks, insurers, direct
marketers, the credit bureau TransUnion and others. It has developed some of the world's most sophisticated data analysis software, some of which it uses
for homeland security screening for government contracts.
