Italian police shut down hacker rings

Tipped off by American officials, Italian police shut down two rings of hackers who attacked Web sites belonging to the U.S. Army and NASA, as well as Internet pages in Italy, authorities said Thursday. Police said 14 people were arrested, including four teenagers and two network security managers. They were charged with computer fraud and face up to eight years in jail if convicted. "The managers sold security systems during the day and attacked the computers of the customers at night," police said in a statement. The investigation also led to the seizure of counterfeit credit cards, hundreds of illegal pay-per-view TV access cards and illegally duplicated movies, including the recent blockbuster Spider-Man. Police officers said some of those arrested had acted for fun, while others were making money.