Gary McKinnon is to be sent by the UK government to the United States for trial, following the failure of his latest appeal against extradition.
McKinnon has a form of autism, which his legal team and doctors claim will lead to “disastrous consequences” for his health, including possible psychosis and suicide; if he is extradited.
McKinnon admits accessing the United States military computer network, though has always claimed this was to find proof of alien fuel technology. Prosecutors claim his access caused close to a million dollars worth of damage; which has bee hotly contested by McKinnon’s legal team.
The 43 year old hacker faces up to 60 years in prison if found guilty. His case has been championed by human rights groups and a number of celebrities, including; Bob Geldof, Chrissy Hynde and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour.
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So where were all these supporters while this man was constantly hacking into DoD computers!?! Justice must be served and if the U.S has to reach across the pond to serve justice so be it!! Computers can’t tell he’s autistic and who knows what harm he would have caused if he penetrated deeper..
You are joking, right?
The guy sent the DoD his email address so they could contact him, that’s how covert he was.
How come some guy with mental issues was able to break into our country’s system so easily and only get caught, when he emailed them with questions?
The question aint what damage could he have done had he not handed himself in. It’s why couldn’t our top guys secure a system from some crackpot.
Hes probably made our DoD systems (and the FBI’s) more secure after explaining what he did to them.
You think 60 years prison, for a mentally ill guy who was looking for aliens is fair?
He wasn’t diagnosed until after he was caught.. With the world full of online I.D. theifs from Eastern Europe and full blown Scam artists from Nigeria!! A precedent needs to be set, sorry for his mental abilities, but he will be the first of many!!
Sorry, with your fake name and such, I assumed you were just joking.
Seems you are serious. If you are that screwed up theres no point trying to debate with you.
Yeah, let’s send this guy to prison for 60 years, fine him $250,000 (seriously, how do you get that back when the person is in prison?) and let him die. Uggg, It would seem that the more utilitarian approach would be to ask him for his input regarding our security systems and to use his feedback to make the system more secure. This is why the ‘hackers’ will always be ahead of the corporations/government. Instead of getting over their ego, acknowledging the persons skill, and asking for their input…they instead pump their chest, engage in a size contest, and state they win because they have the power to prosecute and fine.
I hope this comes back to bite the U.S. government right in the butt. Maybe in a couple years another hacker with actual wicked intent will exploit the DoD system in a way that could have been prevented had they worked with McKinnon to properly secure the system.
Luckily now that Obama holds the Nobel Peace Prize he could not in good conscience let this person go to jail.
Excellent point Sean.