Lauri Love, 28, a young British activist, was arrested in his home for allegedly hacking the U.S. government systems to get confidential information.
After a joint investigation of U.K’s National Crime Agency and the U.S Army's Criminal investigation command, Love was accused in New Jersey after hacking thousands of U.S. computer systems including NASA, the U.S Army, and the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency from his house in Suffolk Village in East Anglia.
According to The Independent, the warrant says Love was a "sophisticated and prolific computer hacker with specialist knowledge in gaining access to the computer networks of large organisations, including government agencies."
One of the evidences was an online chat dated October 7, 2012. Love discussed his plans of infiltrating an Army Corps database holding 400,000 email addresses and asked an accomplice to "grab one email for curiosity."
In another chat dated July 31, 2013, after the hacking incident, Love said, "This ... stuff is really sensitive. ... It's basically every piece of information you'd need to do full identity theft on any employee or contractor for the (agency)."
Paul Fishman, a U.S. attorney who read the charges, said in a statement, “As part of their alleged scheme, they stole military data and personal identifying information belonging to servicemen and women. Such conduct endangers the security of our country and is an affront to those who serve.”
Love was only charged in the U.S and has been released on bail until February.
On Monday, Love said an interview with The Independent that he cannot say anything about the case. He said, “only just got home after being at government headquarters today. I don't even know what's happening myself to be honest, I need to call my lawyers.”
He then added that his father has heart problems so he wouldn’t want to involve him on the proceedings.
