San Fransisco:
Four members of an international hacking ring were charged with cracking the defenses of the US Army network as well as of blockbuster war video games, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Two of the men have already entered guilty pleas in the case, which centers on the"cyber theft" of more than $100 million worth of software and data.
The hackers are accused of breaking into programs used for Army helicopter pilot training, Microsoft's Xbox One consoles, and yet-to-be released video games "Gears of War 3" and "Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 3."
Those charged in the case teamed with others in the US and abroad to hack into networks of Microsoft, Epic Games, Valve Corporation, and the US Army, according to the indictment.
"Members of this international hacking ring stole trade secret data used in high-tech American products, ranging from software that trains US soldiers to fly Apache helicopters to Xbox games that entertain millions around the world," assistant attorney general Leslie Caldwell said in a release.