London hacker loses appeal over US extradition

Did he just hack in there and get information or did he actually sabatage the network that is what I would like to know. If he just went in there and snooped and got some information 70 years does not warrant. But if he sabataged putting peoples life at risk then it does warrant the sentence.

Originally posted by LiquidMirage
I would like to point out that Gary McKinnon, the hacker in question, admitted to hacking U.S. government computer systems.

McKinnon was never charged in Britain, despite admitting that he hacked into the sensitive computer systems in the United States from a bedroom in a house belonging to the aunt of his girlfriend between 2001 and 2002.

Apologies, I found the article, it was what he was told by police he'd probably get:

"Five years after being told by British police that he would probably get a six-month community service order for his exploits..."

exopolitics.blogs.com...

and to answer a question from before:

"Once you're on the network, you can do a command called NetStat - Network Status - and it lists all the connections to that machine. There were hackers from Denmark, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Thailand ..."

"All on at once?" I ask. "You could see hackers from all over the world, snooping around, without the spaceniks or the military realising?"

"Every night," he says, "for the entire five to seven years I was doing this."

Edit: link: www.guardian.co.uk...

EMM

[edit on 30-7-2008 by ElectroMagnetic Multivers]

[edit on 30-7-2008 by ElectroMagnetic Multivers]

I feel sorry for this guy, he isnt an evil man just overly curious I dont think he deserves to have his life taken from him, 70 years in prison may as well be a death sentence, you only get one life and his will be spent behind bars all through a stupid decision to act upon his curiosity. but what does the USA do in this situation if it goes too lenient it basically opens the doors to all hackers and gives them free reign. This poor fool is going to have to pay the price to be an example to any would be hackers, i genuinely feel bad for the guy, his stupidity has cost him everything.

reply to post by mybigunit

"The charges against Mr McKinnon are extensive.

The US government alleges that between February 2001 and March 2002, the 40-year-old computer enthusiast from north London hacked into dozens of US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Department of Defense computers, as well as 16 Nasa computers.

It says his hacking caused some $700,000 dollars damage to government systems.

What's more, they allege that Mr McKinnon altered and deleted files at a US Naval Air Station not long after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and that the attack rendered critical systems inoperable.

The US government also says Mr McKinnon once took down an entire network of 2,000 US Army computers. His goal, they claim, was to access classified information."

This is the US' claim, Gary denies doing anything similar, although he admits, he misclicked once and deleted some files. What makes me suspect the US' claims is the law they brought in, especially for Gary, stating that no evidence of damage done to computer systems was needed for the extradition.

EMM

news.bbc.co.uk...

and just to say:

"SK: You acknowledge that what you did was against the law, it was wrong, don't you?

GM: Unauthorised access is against the law and it is wrong.

SK: What do you think is a suitable punishment for someone who did what you did?

GM: Firstly, because of what I was looking for, I think I was morally correct. Even though I regret it now, I think the free energy technology should be publicly available.

I want to be tried in my own country, under the Computer Misuse Act, and I want evidence brought forward, or at least want the Americans to have to provide evidence in order to extradite me, because I know there is no evidence of damage. "

news.bbc.co.uk...

[edit on 30-7-2008 by ElectroMagnetic Multivers]

[edit on 30-7-2008 by ElectroMagnetic Multivers]

Lmao, seriously people, this is getting ridiculous, they have something to hide...

"In a further twist, it has emerged that a crucial file containing details of the early meetings with the US prosecutors, at which the offers were apparently made, has gone missing from the office of McKinnon's solicitor. A laptop holding details of the same meetings was stolen from the car of one of his barristers."

EMM

exopolitics.blogs.com...

[edit on 30-7-2008 by ElectroMagnetic Multivers]

When I saw the his video interview I thought it was a spoof at the time.

I worked in the I.T. industry for many years. It would be more likely that he hacked into the "Honeypot" so to speak.

He is not even close to the level of Kevin Mitnick. And they are saying he is the most notorius hacker.

"What's more, they allege that Mr McKinnon altered and deleted files at a US Naval Air Station not long after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and that the attack rendered critical systems inoperable."

Oh so this is how they are trying to cover up Dick Cheney standing down the fighter jets????

"Did he just hack in there and get information or did he actually sabatage the network that is what I would like to know."

He didn't damage anything, they are blaming him for the security holes, which were already there (blank passwords, remote registry service) on there own computer systems.
Yes thats right because he brang it to there attention that anyone could login to there systems, now its his fault that they had to pay 700k to fix the holes that were already there.
Makes alot of sense huh.

"Few too many loons inside this thread to put much effort into this post, but here goes.
1. He broke the law.
2. He got caught.
3. He should be punished."

No one including himself has ever said he shouldn't be punished.
He pleaded guilty.
But he should be punished in his own country.And they should pay for it.
When have you ever seen an American pulled out of there country for an internet crime?
NEVER.How is that fair?If he had have hacked a pensioner from Florida, and emptied her bank account NO ONE would care.
This is about butt covering, its all its about.
And we are paying more than 700k for all this.The fact MICROSHAFT WINBLOWS wasn't secure and several other things they are trying to cover up.
And we write the blank check for there little game.

Now he knows what is going to happen to him I wonder if he will show us the proof he said he has

At the end of the day he has done wrong so now he is going to pay the price BIG time



His interview
www.projectcamelot.org...

[edit on 30-7-2008 by duffster]

Originally posted by ElectroMagnetic Multivers

"Once you're on the network, you can do a command called NetStat - Network Status - and it lists all the connections to that machine. There were hackers from Denmark, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Thailand ..."

"All on at once?" I ask. "You could see hackers from all over the world, snooping around, without the spaceniks or the military realising?"

"Every night," he says, "for the entire five to seven years I was doing this."

WOW! If that is true then there should be more people going to prison over this...like the people in the U.S. government that are not securing the computers to keep people out. Then again, maybe the computers these people are hacking are kept un-secure to draw more attention to them since they are easier to hack and act as bait while the important computers are secured. Anybody have any thoughts on that?



[edit on 30-7-2008 by LiquidMirage]

Here's a radio interview with him talking about his latest appeal loss news.bbc.co.uk...

Here is my take. The information that he gave in the 2006 interview does not (compute).

A recent articles say he will only get 3-5 years.

If he were smart , He did not actually delete the files. Most likely he only "moved" them to another machine or network perephrial (DCS?).
That would be the smart choice. Imagine trying to find a file that was
moved and renamed on a network that big!

He pleaded guilty and still has a CYOA attitude. He seems extremely calm talking about what he did.

if i left the door open in my home when i wasnt there id expect my things to be taken.

if i was a "patriotic" US citizen id be more upset that their so-called national security was so farcical someone like this could get through, i think this whole case is more about the US-MIC being embarresed they got caught with their pants down and so they are throwing an international hissy fit

to all the US citizens, doesnt the incompetence of these agencies make you feel so safe and secure, all these alerts and new laws taking away your civil liberties and the US military leaves the door open ...lol

70 years for a hacker eh!

Anyone else believe that the nature of the sentence is some admission of liability / guilt / compensation, which may equate to the level of information he witnessed and was privy to, rather that the systems he allegedly damaged?

This case does not add up for me. Most people familiar with the case have admitted that GMcK is no superwiz. He got lucky. Furthermore, he also stated that dozens of hackers were in at the same time, yet no action has been taken (as I am aware).

CSEA - life but not 70 years!

Sounds familiar to the legal term 'tortious interference', the causing of harm by disrupting something which belongs to someone else'. The measure of damages is pertinent to the level of truth belonging to the other party (the US Government).

Thus, the truer the information, the greater the damage. Typically, if he saw little - the charges would be little. The CSEA link above allows for a life sentence, but McKinnon is getting a double life sentence.

Is 70 years the price for disclosure?

Any thoughts?

Breifne

Originally posted by ElectroMagnetic Multivers
reply to post by tezzajw

 

If the US government can 'pluck' any person they please from other countries, then the NWO is well on its way, A LAW, WHICH STATES NO EVIDENCE IS REQUIRED FOR EXTRADITION!

Funny how only England and Ireland signed it...

EMM

Signed what?

What are you talking about?

Do you think for one second that an American hacker who broke into the MoD computers would not be extradited to England?

Originally posted by divideby3
When I saw the his video interview I thought it was a spoof at the time.

I worked in the I.T. industry for many years. It would be more likely that he hacked into the "Honeypot" so to speak.

He is not even close to the level of Kevin Mitnick. And they are saying he is the most notorius hacker.

Yes! Yes!

Exactly. Netstat isn't going to show you people hacking into military computers. He might see other script kiddies poking around in the honeypot like him, but he is certainly exaggerating his l33t 5k1LLz

wow, this thing is still going?
IMO this guy isnt the best hacker in the world and out of all the people that hack (or try to hack) in to US govt. servers they go for him. On top of that he has some pretty out there claims so in a way its not really in their best interests to pursue him simply because the govt. kinda gives the impression that what he is saying is true. And then he isnt even an American citizen so how can they expect the UK to send him over :S.

He should still be punished IMO for what he did, just in his own country though.

Originally posted by emsed1

Originally posted by Interestinggg
This is a travesty of Justice.Millions of people have hacked into the Nasa pc's.

He hacked into the military network, not NASA

I don't see them going after all of them, only the dumb guy who didn't know to hide his tracks.

Do you have evidence that the military hasn't prosecuted a single hacker that tried to break in?

Just like the guy they pulled out of his home country in Australia, for uploading "windows" to file sharing servers.
Yes thats right, the taxpayer pays for legal proceedings and prison time for some guy who's never even been to the USA.

I am happy to pay for the prosecution of criminals who try to usurp my nation.

Who didn't break any criminal laws but only based upon a theoretical monetary loss figure which isn't even real.
Because 80% of the people who didn't pay for it, don't possess the income to pay for it legally in the first place.Therefore are NOT a lost sale.

what?

Hed never even been to the USA.And he has to go there to go to prison??
Because of the damn internet??
These people should be tried and imprisoned in there own country.
Why the hell does the US prison system have to foot the bill????
This is getting ridiculous.Its showing how the military industrial complex is beginning its world domination and its NWO.Total enslavement.No borders.
One world Nazi corporate government.

So according to that logic Osama Bin Laden should not be punished for the 9/11 attacks because he has never been to New York?

Are you kidding? Surely you are kidding.

Just had to jump in here as someone who has been following this guy's situation for the past few months since January..

you are incorrect. He got into unsecured NASA computers, not military computers. There was nothing vital that he was granted access to, and what he did find on those NASA computers is ample evidence that the US government has extremely classified activities going on above our heads. They're only making a big deal out of it to set an example. This guy was no evil hacker capable of destroying our military's networks and causing millions of dollars worth of damages. He did no such thing.

Strange, because here in New Zealand we have just had a hackers court case hacking computers in America. We gave him a fine of $10,000 and no conviction.
Also the local Police have publicly said they are interested in his skills.

The investigators in the case said his software he used was some of the most advanced ever seen.

Found another 2005 Cnet interview. Must read for a good laugh

news.cnet.com...

The really odd thing is he has implicated himself way to many times in every interview he has given.

If it were Nasa computers.. how did he find all this information that does not pertain to NASA.(read above article)

It's almost as good if it was a story about a drunk blind man that was hacking a Cola vending machine. I'm sorry it does not add up what so ever.

[edit on 30-7-2008 by divideby3]

So the England has finally lost its sovereignity. I wasn't expecting it to happen like this though. Now we can get rid of the british monarchy atleast, which should free up some credits.



[edit on 31-7-2008 by ravenflt]