Ex-DOE worker charged with trying to steal, sell nuclear data

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A former employee of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is facing up to 50 years in prison for allegedly attempting to use a spear-phishing campaign to harvest sensitive nuclear weapons information from government computers.

Charles Harvey Eccleston, 62, planned to sell the information to an undisclosed foreign government, according to charges unsealed Friday by the Justice Department.

His plans were thwarted by an FBI sting operation, and he now faces four felony charges, authorities say, including wire fraud.

“Combating cyber-based threats to our national assets is one of our highest priorities,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin said in a statement.

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