A British man from Suffolk has been charged with hacking into the computer systems of the US army, Nasa and other federal agencies.

The 28-year-old, named as Lauri Love and believed to have lived in the Stradishall and Lowestoft areas, was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) under the Computer Misuse Act (CMA). He has been released on police bail until next February.

Andy Archibald, NCA spokesman, said: “Cyber-criminals should be aware that no matter where in the world you commit cyber crime, even from remote places, you can and will be identified and held accountable for your actions. The NCA has well-developed law enforcement alliances globally and we will pursue and deal robustly with cyber-criminals.”

Under the CMA, individuals can be arrested for launching attacks from within the UK against computers anywhere in the world.

Reports said Love and co-conspirators - believed to be in Australia and Sweden - stole information about government employees, including military service members, since at least October 2012 by hacking into government networks and leaving behind “back doors” through which they could return to get data.

Neither of his co-conspirators have been charged in connection with the hacking.

An indictment served in a US court included pieces of instant message conversations that Love allegedly had with his partners.

In one, he is said to have written: “Ahaha, we owning lots of nasa sites.”