Posted on 04/27/2006 2:13:42 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
LONDON (Reuters) - To the United States, 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 is 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 September 11 attacks.
The unemployed computer programmer is now battling extradition to the United States, 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 Three.
"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 softly spoken 39-year-old told Reuters in an interview.
"HACKER'S HANDBOOK"
A decade later, McKinnon, armed with information gleaned from the book, "The Hacker's Handbook," began his snooping.
During 2000-1 from his home in Hornsey, north London, and using a computer with just a limited 56K dial-up modem, he turned his sights on the American government and military.
"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."
He said it was easy, despite being only a rank amateur. Using the hacking name "Solo," he discovered that many U.S. top-security systems were using an insecure Microsoft Windows program and had no password protection at all.
"So I got commercially available off-the-shelf software and used them to scan large military networks ... anything I thought might have possible links to UFO information," he said.
ALIENS?
He said he came across a group called the "Disclosure Project," which had expert testimonies from senior figures who said technology obtained from extra-terrestrials did exist.
One NASA scientist had reported that the Johnson Space Center had a facility where UFOs were airbrushed out of high-resolution satellite images. So, he hacked in.
"I saw what I'm convinced was some kind of satellite or spacecraft but it was manufactured by no means I have ever seen before -- there were no rivets, no seams, it was like one flawless piece of material. And that was above the Earth."
However, his probing came to an end in March 2002, when British police arrested him.
"I was completely obsessed. I was completely addicted. It was like a huge game but I was getting very paranoid," he said.
McKinnon's own story might sound like the plot of a movie, but the charges he faces are deadly serious. He argues he is being made a scapegoat by U.S. authorities to deter other would-be hackers rather than address their own security flaws.
"I'm already being treated as a terrorist," he said. "I appear in an official American army pamphlet ... in a guide to combating terrorism in the 21st century."
The next stage of his legal battle takes place on May 10. But he hints that whatever happens, he has a lot more to tell.
"I can't talk about a lot of stuff that I found. It's just not the right time," he said with a smile.
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
take him to area 51 and let the aliens molest him. :)
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!!!!
I'm sure that there are aliens who'd be at least as adept at probing him as he was the military systems.
He'd better hope he doesn't get turned over to them!
That may be exactly what he wanted.
*giggle* Yipes. Perish the thought! I was thinking he might be valuable in the same way as the guy in "Catch Me If You Can," who ended up helping the government combat counterfeiting. Maybe this fellow could make a deal where he helped make the systems hacker-proof to guys like himself. Would really be interesting to know what he found out, though ... then again, maybe I don't want to know!
MOM!
Yep. Assuming that what he is saying is the complete and total truth, he's still responsible for the effects of his actions. His actions were criminal, they cost the government huge sums of money, and he deserves to spend a very, very long time in jail and make finacial restitution to the best of his ability.
Where'd you get my passport photo?
Just give the guy an anal probe.
Someone is begging for a probing.
I'm sure there's info in the big UFO ball park that I'd be just as happy to remain ignorant of. I'm disturbed enough by what I feel compelled in my spirit to keep tabs on.
Thankfully, God is still God and always will be God and has it ALL under control.
Whether the great deception the ET's and satan have been working on for eons is believed by the masses or not.
The claim is made that fiber optics, night vision goggles, lasers, particle beam weapons, and more came from the alien craft that crashed at Roswell.
I don't get what the government has do gain by covering it all up though, almost makes me want to hack around and find out if it is true just like this guy did.
Now if only this guy hacked into the computers of the US Border Patrol... he'd have lots and lots of proof of alien invasions.
" His actions were criminal, they cost the government huge sums of money,"
Yea , like some ilegal aliens in the USA .
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