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Chile Arrests 4 'Byond' Hackers

Police in Chile arrested four suspected computer hackers for allegedly belonging to a group accused of breaking into thousands of government Web sites around the globe, including NASA's.

The "Byond" team has been under investigation for eight months with the cooperation of authorities in the United States, Israel and several South American countries, police chief Gerardo Raventos said.

He said the group infiltrated more than 8,000 sites, including that of the U.S. space agency.

"These people did not act seeking money, but just for fun," Raventos said.

The four were arrested Monday in the capital of Santiago and the nearby cities of San Bernardo and Rancagua. Prosecutor Mario Schilling said they could be charged with "electronic sabotage" and face prison terms of up to five years.

The court gave prosecutors 90 days to file charges.

One of the suspects is Leonardo Hernandez, 23, who was known in cyberspace as Nettoxic and is wanted in several countries, Raventos said.

Another is Carlos Amigo, known online as SSH-2. The other two, twin brothers who were not named because they are under 18, used the handles Codiux and Phnx, Raventos said.

A judge ordered Hernandez and Amigo jailed until charges are filed, while the two minors were freed but were told to respond to a summons.

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