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California Man Charged With Hacking Into, Defacing Government Websites

NEW YORK (AP) -- A California man has been charged with hacking and defacing websites for a West Point counterterrorism research center and a New York City government finance agency.

A criminal complaint accuses Billy Ribeiro Anderson with hacking the two sites in 2015 and 2016 using the online pseudonym "Alfabeto Virtual." It says he modified them to display "Hacked by Alfabeto Virtual."

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan announced computer fraud charges against Anderson on Thursday. He was to make a court appearance later in the day in Los Angeles.

Prosecutors said the 41-year-old Anderson has used his computer skills to deface thousands of U.S. military, government and business website around the world.

There was no lawyer on record who could comment for Anderson.

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