Romanian authorities have arrested a 26-year-old suspected of breaking into NASA's systems, causing damages estimated at $500,000 in the process.

Robert Butyka, 26, was arrested on Tuesday in Cluj by officers from the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), who were investigating a string of break-ins starting in December 2010 that were traced back to Romania. Butyka, who allegedly goes by the online moniker of Iceman, faces various computer hacking and sabotage charges. Police are in the process of examining computer seized during a raid on Butyka's home for evidence.

The means used or the motive for the attack remains unclear, but NASA is a frequent target of hacking attacks and almost as frequently a target of cybercrime prosecutions.

A Romanian police statement on the case can be found here (English translation here). ®

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