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Gold9472
05-10-2006, 09:05 PM
9/11 hacker should be extradited to stand trial in America, rules judge

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/11/nhacker11.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/05/11/ixuknews.html

By Nicole Martin
(Filed: 11/05/2006)

A Briton accused of perpetrating the "biggest military hack of all time" using a "tuppenny-ha'penny" home computer should be extradited to America to stand trial, a district judge ruled yesterday.

Gary McKinnon, 40, from Wood Green, north London, could face a 70-year jail sentence for allegedly accessing 97 United States government computers, causing damage estimated at £370,000.

He is alleged to have deleted files and logs from computers at the US Naval Weapons Station Earle at a critical time after the September 11 attacks, rendering the base's network of 300 computers inoperable.

He is also accused of obtaining secret passwords or information which might become "indirectly useful to an enemy", and interfering with maritime navigation facilities in New Jersey.

In recommending McKinnon for extradition yesterday, District Judge Nicholas Evans rejected claims that he could be subject to "Military Order Number One", which allows President George W Bush to detain suspects indefinitely.

However, the final decision on whether McKinnon should be sent to America for trial rests with John Reid, the Home Secretary

McKinnon has admitted breaking into the American systems using a computer belonging to his girlfriend's aunt, but said he was seeking evidence of UFOs in classified files and denies causing damage.

As a pacifist, he also wanted to expose weaknesses in the American security systems.

It was claimed that he left a note on an army computer in 2002 saying US foreign policy was "akin to government-sponsored terrorism".

The note allegedly said: "It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand-down on September 11 last year. I am Solo. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels."

Outside Bow Street magistrates' court in central London yesterday, he said: "It went as expected and the appeals process can now be started. My intention was never to disrupt security. I was looking for UFOs.

"I'm very doubtful that one person could take down the entire computer system of Washington."

He added that he still feared being sent to Guantanamo Bay, and tried by military tribunal, despite assurances from the US that he would receive a federal trial.

Karen Todner, his solicitor, said she was worried that any sentence her client received in America would be "disproportionate" to the scale of the offences he committed.

"There is power under the Computer Misuse Act to charge him here and he could stand trial here," said Miss Todner.

Giving his judgment, District Judge Evans said that McKinnon "intentionally targeted computers in the US".

"His actions resulted in criminal damage being suffered there as well as causing very considerable disruption to the workings of those computers resulting in interference and disruption to military activities in the US," he said.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The judge found no bars to extradition and referred the case to the Secretary of State."

Partridge
05-10-2006, 11:23 PM
"I'm very doubtful that one person could take down the entire computer system of Washington." Me too! I'm less doubtful that certain people are trying to blame certain 'failures' on this guy.