Romanian police have arrested a 26-year-old hacker accused of infiltrating several NASA servers last year and tampering with data belonging to the U.S. space agency.
Robert Butyka was arrested yesterday (Nov. 15) in the Romanian city of Cluj Napoca. According to Network World, Butyka, who goes by the online name "Iceman," hacked into multiple NASA servers on Dec. 12, 2010, and modified, damaged and restricted access to data. The security breach cost NASA about $500,000 in damages.
The press release from the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Infractions of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said police took "a number of systems" during a raid on Butyka's home. Along with the charge of disrupting the servers and tampering with data, Butyka was charged with illegal access of a computer system, violation of security measures and possession of hacking programs.
A DIICOT spokeswoman told Network World that Butyka is unemployed and does not have a higher education.
In targeting NASA, Butyka joins the ranks of his countryman TinKode, the moniker of a noted Romanian hacker who, in April, breached an FTP site belonging to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and gained access to confidential satellite data. TinKode, who is still at large, has also taken credit for hacking the European Space Agency, the Royal Navy, the U.S. Army and YouTube.
