Hacker Faces Prison
APRIL 27, 2006 (REUTERS) - To the U.S., he is a seriously dangerous man who put the nation's security at risk by committing "the biggest military computer hack of all time." But Briton Gary McKinnon says he's just an ordinary computer nerd who wanted to find out whether aliens and UFOs exist. During his two-year quest, McKinnon broke into computers at the Pentagon, NASA and the Johnson Space Center, as well as systems used by the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force.
APRIL 27, 2006 (REUTERS) - To the U.S., he is a seriously dangerous man who put the nation's security at risk by committing "the biggest military computer hack of all time."
But Briton Gary McKinnon says he's just an ordinary computer nerd who wanted to find out whether aliens and UFOs exist.
During his two-year quest, McKinnon broke into computers at the Pentagon, NASA and the Johnson Space Center, as well as systems used by the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force.
U.S. officials say he caused $700,000 worth of damage and even crippled vital defense systems shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The unemployed computer programmer is now battling extradition to the U.S., where, if found guilty, he faces up to 70 years in jail and fines of up to $1.75 million. His lawyer fears he could even be sent to Guantanamo Bay.
It's all a far cry from how he first got into hacking: watching a film about a teenage boy who breaks into a military central computer and almost starts World War III.
"I had seen the film War Games, and I do remember clearly thinking at the time, that's amazing – a great big military computer system and a young, spotty teenager," the soft-spoken 39-year-old told Reuters in an interview.
A decade later, McKinnon, armed with information gleaned from the book The Hacker's Handbook, began snooping.
During 2000 and 2001, from his home in Hornsey, North London, he turned his sights on the American government and military – using a computer with just a 56K dial-up modem.
"My main thing was wanting to find out about UFOs and suppressed technology," he said, insisting his intention was not to cause damage. "I wanted to … find out stuff the government wouldn't tell you about." you can read more about it here:
ghost
ghost 18 years ago
I cannot beleive England just handed him over to America for straigt trial. That's against his rights, our rights, anyones rights, clearly state you can be tried in the country you belong to. I bet he will get life imprissonment or execution. Either that or he will vanish off the face of the earth the second the CIA or the FBI get a hold of him. Has he already been tried?
ghost 18 years ago
EnglishPanda, Unfortunalty for Gary most of the western world (including US and UK) have a series of treaties that state you are put on trial in the country you commited the crime. An unwritten rule is if your crime crosses national boundaries you go on trial in the country with the toughest penalty providing that would not go against your Rights (for Gary those are set out in the 1998 Human Rights Act)
The twist here is Gary committed the crimes against America whilst on UK soil so the lawyers are a bit confused. I'm not convinced of a big conspiracy by the US Government/Military (the US Embassy in the UK has assured the UK Government he will not be tried in a closed court under military law but in an open court under regular law…not something you'd do if you wanted to keep a secret.) but feel its probably little to do with Gary at all. I think the US is testing out how far it can push foriegn governments.
ghost 18 years ago
P.S Sorry EnglishPanda I forgot to answer the question, as of today (30th May 2006) Not only has he hasn't been put on trial its not definate he will go to the US. The UK Courts have recommended he should be put on trial in the US but the decision ultimatly rests with the Right Honourable John Ried MP (Home Secretary) who has yet to decided whether he stands trial in US or UK. My guess is he'll go to the US unfortunatly.
ghost 18 years ago
lol i saw something on the news about this…they signed off with the line 'A warning to all you hackers out there: Stay off our internet' and i started laughing uncontrollably and my dad gave me a funny look.
Mr_Cheese 18 years ago
CaityT3hAw3som3 - what news channel was that? might be worth "visiting" their site.. if they're gonna talk like that.
ghost 18 years ago
that gives hackers a bad name by doing this shit :@:@:@:@:@:@:@:@:@:@:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:):):):):):):):):)
ghost 18 years ago
A decade later, McKinnon, armed with information gleaned from the book The Hacker's Handbook, began snooping.
Lol, I laughed my ass off when I read this article. It IS media bullshit..
Giving hackers a bad name? Its just giving hackers a worse name than we already have. This is an example of how the media steriotypes hackers
ghost 18 years ago
wasn't this event based upon an episode in the X-Files? it seems really similiar.
nimbus01 18 years ago
Here is a good video interview regarding this case:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4970000/newsid_4979700/bb_rm_4979716.stm
I read a couple of negative comments you guys had to say about this guy – granted it, he may not be as stealth as the best of you but you have to admire his “intentions†– and correct me if I am wrong but it is the same intentions why some of you come to this site, and that is “to acquire knowledge that might be in some cases restricted or delimited to you under normal circumstances.â€