Romanian man accused of hacking into NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
A Romanian man already convicted in his home country of hacking into NASA computers at the the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge has been indicted in the United States, officials announced Wednesday.
Robert Butkya, 25, of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, was indicted by a federal grand jury on allegations of unauthorized impairment of a protected computer, U.S. Department of Justice officials said in a written statement. The alleged hacking took place in December.
Butkya used the moniker "Iceman" as he hacked into, and placed malicious software on, 25 computers that were part of NASA's "Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Program - designed to support climate research and improve weather forecasting capabilities - in December, according to the DOJ. In at least one instance, "He used the computers to launch attacks against other computers," Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Silber, who is prosecuting the American case, said.
