SAN DIEGO (AP) - A man who trumpeted his company's claims of finding security loopholes in U.S.
military computers was indicted Monday on charges of hacking government networks for financial
gain.
Brett Edward O'Keefe, 36, was arrested and indicted on six counts of conspiracy to access military
government and private sector computers, said U.S. Attorney Carol Lam. He was scheduled to be
arraigned Tuesday in federal court.
The indictment accuses O'Keefe of sharing military files with news media to generate favorable
publicity for his San Diego company, ForensicTec Solutions Inc., hoping it would bring new clients
and profits. O'Keefe allegedly had unauthorized possession of files from NASA, the Army, the Navy,
the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health.
The indictment identifies O'Keefe as president of ForensicTec. There was no phone listing in San
Diego for the company or for Brett O'Keefe.
The FBI raided ForensicTec's offices in August after a newspaper wrote about the company's
claims.
At the time, ForensicTec said it identified 34 military sites where they said network security was
easily compromised, including Army computers at Fort Hood, Texas; NASA's Ames Research
Center in Northern California and Navy facilities in Maryland and Virginia.
The company reportedly used free software to identify vulnerable computers and then peruse
hundreds of confidential files containing military procedures, e-mail, Social Security numbers and
financial data.
O'Keefe told The Washington Post at the time that the company's goal was to call attention to the
need for better security and "get some positive exposure" for the fledgling firm. The FBI began its
search hours after the claims were reported in a front-page article in the Post.
