New York: Adrian Lamo, a hacker best known for breaking into the computer networks of The New York Times and other major corporations, and for reporting Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning to the authorities, has died, his father and officials said. He was 37.

Lamo was found dead in an apartment in Wichita, Kansas, on Wednesday, The Wichita Eagle reported. His father announced the death in a post on Facebook on Friday. Kate Flavin, a spokeswoman for Sedgwick County, Kansas, said Saturday that the cause of death was unknown.

Lamo was 22 when federal prosecutors accused him of breaking into The Times' computer network, creating fake user-names and running up more than $US300,000 in data research fees. Lamo also gained access to the computer networks of Yahoo, Microsoft and Cingular Wireless, prosecutors said.

"It's like someone kicking in your front door while you're on vacation and running up a $US300,000 bill on your phone, and then telling you when you arrive home that he had performed a useful service by demonstrating that your dead bolt wasn't secure enough," James Comey, then the US attorney in Manhattan, said in 2003 of Lamo's activities.

Lamo pleaded guilty to one count of computer damage, telling a federal judge that he was "genuinely remorseful" for his actions. He was sentenced to house arrest and probation.