Reuters reports that “U.S. authorities have charged a hacker in England with breaching thousands of computer systems, including U.S. military networks, to steal massive amounts of confidential data.”

The piece continues: “U.S. prosecutors said that between October 2012 and October 2013, [the alleged hacker] and co-conspirators placed hidden ‘shells’ or ‘back’ doors’ within the hacked networks, allowing them to return later to steal data.”

“Among the networks they hacked into were those of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. prosecutors said.”