Super-Hacker Gary McKinnon Will Be Extradited To United States

It´s official. Gary will be tried and sentenced in the United States for breaking into U.S. government computer systems while searching for secret proof of extra-terrestial life form existance. Gary was arrested in the U.K. in 2002 for breaking into U.S. Army, Navy, Airforce and DoD systems.



I must say I share Gary´s concern here. He is potentially looking at a very long jail-sentence *at best*. If there is any truth at what he claims to have found -one of the things being proof that Anti-Gravity technologies exist- Gary is in for a rough ride, possibly even death "by accident".

What is probably called for is a united effort to rally, demonstrate and petition for his release. We should do whatever it takes to show support, even if what he did was illegal, it seems that he will be severely punished for something that was a relatively harmless act. Remember, he did not destroy anything, he just looked at the data, which he did not even intend to disclose.

The reason he started to partially disclose what he´d found is that despite his insinuations that "he would tell" if he were to be extradited, he is facing extradition anyway.

Related News Links:
www.theinquirer.net
news.zdnet.co.uk
www.hardocp.com
news.independent.co.uk

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
British Hacker Attacks Naval Station Computers !
More from the hacker
Super-hacker McKinnon speaks out
Gary McKinnon on Coast to Coast tonight.

[edit on 7-7-2006 by HardToGet]

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[edit on 7-7-2006 by HardToGet]

A small note, Gary isn't as much a super hacker as they are trying to make him out to be.
He entered the systems trough well known misconfigurations and security holes that should have been closed years before his intrussion, all needed KB, software and patches to solve any and all of the exploited security problems were available publicly and for free for a long time, but the problems were left wide open by utter and complete incompetence by the departments the systems were part of.

He admitted it himself and fully disclosed the methods he used to gain access.
The holes, after it was discovered he exploited them and this case got massive media attention, were finaly closed.

Imho, he doesn't deserve the jailtime he will probably recieve and he should even be commended for showing the world how badly these goverment computer systems are maintained and secured.

The people responsible for leaving these systems wide open are the ones that should be on trial for treason, sabotage (voluntarely or accidental doesn't matter in this case) and for being a threat to US national security.

[edit on 7/7/06 by thematrix]

Hey look, it is against the law (illegal) to hack into ANY government or company database for that matter, or even a PC. Just the same it is also illegal to enter this country illegally (immigration). you break the law you break the law. Do the crime do the time right? I hope he could have gotten the information he wnated and made it public, but regardless he broke the law and got caught.

The saying goes it is only illegal if you get caught. So I do believe he should recieve whatever sentencing he gets, unless they give him death which I believe is unreasonably unjust, however unlikely it may be.

Its too bad he could not get out the info he managed to get.

Probably the Super relates to the size of the hack, not perse to the size of his skills. Don´t you just love the exaggerated reactions of the U.S. to this?

It really is a scare tactic to make sure that noone else tries this, rather than the U.S. Military spending some of their astronomical defense budget on getting all of their systems which are connected to the internet safe.

$700,000 in damage to their systems my foot. Why? Because he installed PCAnywhere? Tell you what, I´ll repair that by uninstalling PCAnywhere from the affected systems for a bargain $500,000.

Offer valid where legal.

Its too bad he could not get out the info he managed to get.

I second that. He explains in several interviews what he saw, for example here (audio)

There is a video on that page which shows what he describes.

Mckinnon Rescue effort here.

I'll get started printing the 'FREE GARY' bumperstickers for everyone.

I don't quite see how he can be extradited. But if he is, I have to wonder how popular he will be when he gets here.

He fears for his life, or as he says in one of his interviews on how his future inmates will react he mimics a redneck voice "what are you doin´boy attacking our country". "now pick up that bar of soap".

And some more graphic remarks which the TOS prevents me of posting here.

Great idea for the stickers

I'll put a Free Gary right next to my Free Kevin

Can you spell "One World Government" ???

A. He's British, not American.

B. He apparently wasn't hacking but if he was, he should be tried in his own country IMO.

As the saying goes, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

from thematrix
Imho, he doesn't deserve the jailtime he will probably recieve and he should even be commended for showing the world how badly these goverment computer systems are maintained and secured.

This is equivalent to smuggling a firearm onboard an airliner and blaming TSA when you get caught.

from HardToGet
It really is a scare tactic to make sure that noone else tries this, rather than the U.S. Military spending some of their astronomical defense budget on getting all of their systems which are connected to the internet safe.

If it works to deter people from doing it in the future, all the better, imo.

To the extent that it exposed security flaws, I thank the man. Now please put your hands behind your back, sir...

Then I guess I better stop.

I mean tell that friend of mine to stop hacking.

Darn it!!

Is it too late to edit?

I do computer forensics and can not see the 700K, or any long term jail time. But that is up for the courts I guess.

Semper

The communist Chinese should do a raid on our prison and break him out and make him work for them. Alot of people would die in the process, but the guys got key information. Who gives a # if its againts the law to hack into a government computer, maybe it should be againts the for not putting up aduqute software protection, and using windows OS while having top top secret information just sitting around on your desktop connected to the net through a line of lan connections.

Originally posted by semperfortis
Then I guess I better stop.

I mean tell that friend of mine to stop hacking.

Darn it!!

Is it too late to edit?

Too funny, semper!

I do computer forensics and can not see the 700K

Well, if they're willing to spend it, maybe we should start up a computer security firm...

Originally posted by soficrow
A. He's British, not American.

He hacked into a DOD computer system aka American government computer system, not British.

Originally posted by soficrow
B. He apparently wasn't hacking but if he was, he should be tried in his own country IMO.

Umm... even he has admitted what he did was illegal, and why should he be tried in Britain? What if a specific country has no laws or not enough laws covering a specific crime? Hypothetical scenario, if county X does not consider murder a crime can I plan and order your death from there and not get tried because I cant get extradited to the US?

BTW read this interview with him, he goes into detail about his story and about his fears of US jails.

I cant help but not feel for the man, he broke the law and now its time to face up to that fact.

[edit on 8-7-2006 by WestPoint23]

Let's be serious here. There are much worse jails around the world than the American ones. Take France for example, I hear they have some of the worst on the planet, when it comes to crime inside that is. I bet North Korean Jails must really bite, since people just get shot for saying something against someone in power there.

The point here is that it could be MUCH worse for him than it's going to be. Yes, he'll serve some jail time, and pay some hefty fines, but I don't see anything bad happening to him otherwise. Just like many others here stated the old saying, if you do the crime, you gotta do the time. It applies equally for everyone.

As for extradition, I think that's a wise move. This way, we'll all get a chance to meet him. Between him and Kevin, we'll have a real hacking powerhouse over here. I betcha he might end up working for Kevin one day, when he reforms. Just my thoughts.

TheBorg

While I believe this man should be punished, I don't believe a long term prison sentence is warranted and I don't believe he did any damage to the systems he penetrated. You can't just let him go unpunished though.

[edit on 8-7-2006 by Astronomer70]

No, he doesn't deserve long time prison. But he does need a time out. My recommendation would be 18 months and restitution.

In order to justify the extradition, the US government is continuing its tradition of flat-out lying.

They are claiming that McKinnon damaged several hundred computers to the value of thousands of dollars each. This is implausible, but necessary to justify his extradition.

He should be able to be tried in his own country by a jury of his peers.

As for those people spouting the tired cliche "if you can't do the time"... I'm sure they're always happy under authoritarian regimes like the US. Personally I prefer the kind of freedom we have in Europe.

I think the key here is for the government to prove the extent of the damage. I wonder, if his trial proceeds, and the government fails to prove the full extent of the damage, and find that the true extent was less than was required for extradition in the first place, will that conviction still be valid, as the trial should never have legally happened.

Other than that, I'm betting that proving the true cost of the damage was as excessive as they claim, which will be tough, but I have faith that the US government can have any evidence they need for any trial ready to go at the drop of a dime.

One aggrivating point is that if this is the direction the trial is going, we may never get to see any evidence of UFOs or antigrav, or any of that cool stuff.

Originally posted by rich23
In order to justify the extradition, the US government is continuing its tradition of flat-out lying.

They are claiming that McKinnon damaged several hundred computers to the value of thousands of dollars each. This is implausible, but necessary to justify his extradition.

Who are you to determine the dollar damage of the damage done and what it cost to repair it?

As for those people spouting the tired cliche "if you can't do the time"... I'm sure they're always happy under authoritarian regimes like the US. Personally I prefer the kind of freedom we have in Europe.

Yeah, that was me. We have all the freedoms you wish for. Europe is stale, you have no "freedom".