J.C. Penney Co. revealed as hacker victim

Plano, Texas A federal judge in Massachusetts has released documents that indicate J.C. Penney’s computer system was the target of a computer hacker who has since been tried and sentenced for a series of attacks between the years 2003 and 2008, according to the Dallas Business Journal.

Court records indicate the accused hacker, Albert Gonzalez, was charged in three different district courts -- New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts -- for a series of orchestrated computer attacks in which he targeted retailer’s computer systems to snatch credit- and debit-card information.

For a significant period of time, J.C. Penney was listed as the anonymous “company A” in court records, but a Massachusetts judge said Thursday, he objects to keeping the retailer’s name confidential, due to the need for transparency when consumer credit and debit cards are at issue in hacker cases.

Court records indicate that J.C. Penney’s protective system may have been compromised, but Secret Service agents found no evidence of the hackers obtaining credit- or debit-card information from the retailer's system.

The court added in a recent filing on the matter: “It would be perfectly appropriate for them (J.C. Penney's) to make a public statement that there is no evidence that any credit or debit cards were stolen.”

The court said in its filing that anonymity is necessary at the early stages of an investigation to allow investigators and the company time to respond, but that it believes transparency is needed now.