British man faces cyber-attack charges

WASHINGTON -- A 28-year-old British man whom prosecutors described as a "sophisticated and prolific computer hacker" has been charged in connection with cyber-attacks in which he illegally accessed the personal information of U.S. soldiers and government employees, and obtained other information about budgets, contracts and the demolition of military facilities, authorities said yesterday.

Lauri Love was taken into custody Friday at his home in Stradishall, England, and faces charges in federal courts in Virginia and New Jersey in the attacks, which authorities said caused millions of dollars in losses. Apparently motivated by a desire to wreak havoc on the U.S. government, Love and those working with him were able to infiltrate the computer systems of entities including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Missile Defense Agency, authorities said in court records.

Love is accused of planning the attacks, which spanned from October 2012 through August, with others in online chats. The group members used somewhat sophisticated techniques known as "SQL injection" attacks and "ColdFusion" exploits, and they left themselves surreptitious paths back into government computer systems after they first accessed them, authorities said.

-- The Washington Post