British man charged in government computer hacking

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A British man has been charged with hacking into computers belonging to the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Sentencing Commission and an FBI laboratory, among others.

A grand jury in Alexandria indicted 29-year-old Lauri Love of Stradishall, England, Thursday on charges including conspiracy, causing damage to a protected computer and aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors say Love and others obtained more than 100,000 employee records including names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers and salary information. He also allegedly obtained credit card numbers.

Love faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted in Virginia. Online court records did not list an attorney.

Love is free on bond in England. He also faces federal charges in New Jersey and New York for allegedly hacking into other federal government computers.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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