Posted on 06/09/2005 3:31:44 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
A Wood Green man accused of being the "world's biggest computer hacker" caused $700,000 dollars worth of damage after hacking his way into 97 of the US Government's most secure computers, a court heard.
Unemployed engineer Gary McKinnon allegedly used software available on the internet to break into systems at the at the Pentagon, NASA, US Army, US Navy and US Air force.
The US Army Military District of Washington network had to be shut down at one stage amid fears the hacking was the work of the al-Qaeda terror network.
McKinnon claims he was searching for evidence that the US Government had covered up visits from aliens to Earth.
Bow Street Magistrates' Court heard that the 39-year-old, of Whittington Road, Wood Green, was arrested at 6.30am on June 7 by Scotland Yard's extradition squad and faces 20 charges of computer-related crimes.
If extradited and found guilty McKinnon - known on the internet as "Solo" - faces a maximum penalty of 70 years in prison.
The US first issued an indictment against him in 2002 and his solicitor, Karen Todner, claimed outside court that a decision was then taken "at the highest level" not to pursue the case any further.
She said the decision to revive the case by the US Government was politically motivated and that McKinnon was "very disappointed and surprised" to now be facing charges.
Janet Boston, for the US government, told the court: "Mr McKinnon accessed, without authorisation, some 97 US Government computers, and installed unauthorised software, including a program called Remotely Anywhere.
"That permitted him in effect to control completely the computers and it was installed in such a way that the fact this has happened could not be detected.
"This caused damage to the computers which were accessed by impairing the integrity and operation of programming systems.
"In one incident the US Army Military District of Washington network became inoperable.
"The actual cost of repairing all this damage was some $700,000."
McKinnon's barrister, Mohammed Khamisa, said his client had started a temporary computing job only yesterday.
District Judge Christopher Pratt granted McKinnon bail on condition that he lives at home, reports daily to police, provides a £5,000 security, does not apply for travel documents and does not use any computer equipment affording access to the internet.
McKinnon's full extradition hearing is due to take place at the same court on July 27.
Mrs Todner said afterwards: "He has an interest in UFOs and that was certainly part of his motivation. He believes there are UFOs and that the US Government knew about this and had been concealing it.
"He also wanted to expose weaknesses in the American security systems because he is a pacifist and has strong feelings in relation to that.
"Gary McKinnon and his family are very disappointed and surprised that it has taken the authorities here four years since the allegations were first made against him to bring this matter to court.
"This request for his extradition is driven by the American Government.
"Mr McKinnon intends to contest the extradition most vigorously. Of particular concern to him is the treatment of other British nationals under the American justice system, which inspires little confidence.
"We believe that as a British national he should be tried here in our courts by a British jury and not in the US.
It was alleged he also "deleted critical system files" on the computer, copied a file containing usernames and encrypted passwords for the computer, and installed tools to gain unauthorised acess to other machines.
Further allegations include that he modified US navy and air force computers and copied other files. In New Jersey, he was accused of hacking into a network of 300 computers at the Earle naval weapons station in Colts Neck and stealing 950 passwords.
Because of the alleged break-in, which occurred immediately after the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the whole system was effectively shut down for a week, officials said……***
The article says he used programs available on the internet to hack the computers. I know such programs exist but I thought they were low level. Either there's some serious material available on the internet or the govt. computers had zero protection.
Under the Constitution (which incorporates British Common Law as of 1789,) the jurisdiction for prosecution of a crime is the location of the criminal when the crime was committed, not the location of the effects of the crime. Were it otherwise, China would have every right under the US Constitution to extradite anyone who broke its laws with respect to what may and may not be published on the internet (as just one example.)
What would the Navy weapon's locker in New Jersey have to do with UFO's? I'm sure his barrister has a logical explanation...
Punish him accordingly, but those who sold and ran the computer systems must also be accountable.
"McKinnon claims he was searching for evidence that the US Government had covered up visits from aliens to Earth."
Words fail me Ping.
If they are the "most secure", why were they hacked?
No kidding!
Pull the other one.
Hey Good to see ya back!
Interesting, no?
Well? No wonder he was looking for UFOs. He simply wanted to catch a ride back home to his own planet ruled by Wood Green men.
This sentence makes no sense. Maybe his lawyer, Mohammed Abu Jihad Ibn Al Qaida could explain.
Is "pacifist" the new code for a dhimmi who submits?
Repairing? More than likely it's for implementing security measures that should have been in place beforehand.
The question is not why but how. The answer is, as any computer security expert will tell you, there is no such thing as a hacker proof system that is connected to a network. Difficult and time consuming yes, impossible, no.
"The article says he used programs available on the internet to hack the computers. I know such programs exist but I thought they were low level. Either there's some serious material available on the internet or the govt. computers had zero protection."
He used a remote control program that is legal. He had to exploit a Microsoft security defect to get into the computer first.
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