A British man has been arrested for allegedly hacking into the computers of several U.S. government agencies and the U.S. military.
Lauri Love has been charged with infiltrating thousands of computer systems, including those of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NASA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
A federal grand jury in New Jersey charged Love, alleging he and his unnamed co-conspirators hacked into computer systems between October 2012 and October 2013.
Once inside, Love and others placed hidden “shells” or “back doors” within the compromised networks, which allowed them to return to the systems and steal confidential data.
The indictment said the stolen data included the personally identifying information of military service personnel and others.
British authorities said Monday that Love also was charged under a U.K. law that allows people to be arrested for starting attacks from the U.K. on computers anywhere in the world.
He was arrested Friday at his home about 110 kilometers north of London. He has been released on bail until February.