Secret Service Reveals How It Stalks Cybercriminals

A top Secret Service official ended up spilling details about federal anti-hacker strategy at a relatively obscure federal hearing in Alabama.

In testimony given to the House Committee on Financial Services, assistant director Alvin T. Smith revealed just how involved the Secret Service is in federal investigations into cybercrime. Smith detailed how the Secret Service has infiltrated underground websites (including both hacker and cyberfraud sites) and bulletin boards. A 2008 investigation into criminals who stole credit and debit card numbers from Dave & Buster's, OfficeMax, Sports Authority, and Barnes & Noble customers was largely accomplished thanks to accounts by undercover feds on illegal websites.