Brit allegedly hacked federal networks to obtain service member details
Government (U.S.) // United States
Authorities accuse Lauri Love, 28, of breaking into computer networks at U.S. government agencies to steal large quantities of personal information on military members so he could "disrupt" government operations, the Star-Ledger reports.
U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Paul Fishman, stated, “Such conduct endangers the security of our country and is an affront to those who serve.”
While in New Jersey between October 2012 and October 2013, Love worked with three unindicted accomplices and some automated tools to scan the Internet for computer systems vulnerable to breaches. They planned infiltrations in online forums known as internet relay chats, or IRCs.
In one example of the alleged exchanges there, dated Jan. 3, Love states, "we might be able to get at real confidential shit.”
After successfully penetrating systems, the hackers placed 'backdoors' within the networks so they could return to them at a later date and steal private data.
Love, of Stradishall, England, accessed systems belonging to the Army, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Environmental Protection Agency and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The hacking resulted in “millions of dollars in losses,” though it is unclear how.
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