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British hacker will be able to stay in the U.K. until the European courts decide what to do about the case

The never ending saga of British hacker Gary McKinnon recently took another turn after EU courts officially requested that Great Britain not extradite McKinnon to the United States to face hacking charges just yet.  The UK House of Lords denied his latest appeal earlier in the month, and believe the man responsible for "the biggest military hack of all time" should be sent to the United States to face justice.

But after losing the appeal in the House of Lords, McKinnon's attorney to the battle to the European Court of Human Rights, where he was granted "interim relief" until the Court is able to look into the case further.  

"The applicant should not be extradited to the United States before midnight on 29 August 2008. This was in order to allow the Chamber to examine the request at the earliest opportunity, namely at its meeting on 28 August 2008," the court ruled.

McKinnon is accused of hacking into the Pentagon and other military computers over a one-year span from 2001 and 2002.  Using a dial-up modem and standard software available to all computer users at the time, McKinnon accessed computers used by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Department of Defense, along with multiple NASA computers.  

The computer intrusions led to 2,000 systems being knocked offline and at least 2,455 user accounts and network logs were deleted at the Naval Weapons Station Earle, according to the U.S. government.  Furthermore, data copied from computers used by the Air Force, Navy, Army and NASA caused an additional $700,000.

He officially faces eight counts of unauthorized computer access and causing damage to computers, with each charge carrying a maximum 10 year federal prison sentence along with a $250,000 fine.

One lawyer for the U.S. government, Mark Summers, noted that extradition is necessary for McKinnon because his crimes were against U.S. computers.

He admitted to hacking the government computers, claiming he was looking for evidence of a UFO cover up by the United States government.  In return, the U.S. government is trying to extradite him under terrorism charges, which his attorney said could lead to him serving a sentence in Guantanamo Bay.

Prosecutors said they are willing to reduce his sentence down to four years if he throws in the white towel and pleads guilty to the charges.  But if he continues his entrenched battle against extradition, the U.S. government will look to sentence him to the maximum.

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$?
By headbox on 8/25/2008 1:47:56 AM , Rating: 2
I wonder how they come up with the financial figures. How does the deleting of network logs cost the government $700,000?

It's the same when someone hacks a bank computer, but doesn't transfer any funds- they will still claim some massive financial "loss."




RE: $?
By Some1ne on 8/25/2008 2:25:44 AM , Rating: 5
You've forgotten that we're talking about an organization that has purchased $600 toilet seats and $434 hammers.

They just have very little understanding of how much things are actually worth.


RE: $?
By FITCamaro on 8/25/08, Rating: -1
RE: $?
By MaulSidious on 8/25/2008 6:34:14 AM , Rating: 1
You american fundamentalists should get off your high horse.


RE: $?
By marvdmartian on 8/25/2008 10:12:04 AM , Rating: 1
You're right. Instead of screwing around with extradition anymore, we should just get the Brits to beat him to death in prison. Just be done with it then, what?


RE: $?
By HDBanger on 8/25/2008 9:07:13 AM , Rating: 2
You are confusing "prison" with county jail eh. Big Bad sheriff Joe does not run the state correctional facilities, he runs Maricopa County.. There is a huge diff between county jail and state/federal prison. If Arpaio tried that crap in a real prison, he would be dead..


RE: $?
By Grast on 8/25/2008 11:12:31 AM , Rating: 2
No, he would not be dead. We would see stricter rules for CRIMINALS. But based on your statement, it sounds like you spent some time in the local jail. What is the matter? You did not like eating crap food and sitting in a 8 by 8 room.

Prison is for punishment and removal from society. Prison is NOT for rehabilitation!!!!!! 90% of the so called "Rights" should be removed in all prisons; county or otherwise.


RE: $?
By HDBanger on 8/25/2008 5:00:08 PM , Rating: 2
Sure I spent a few hours in Maricopa county jail, affectionately called the "horseshoe". All for traffic offenses thank you. I used to street race a little when I lived in Hell, oops, Arizona, so I went to jail a few times for a few hours. Big deal. My statement still stands, you can mess with dui and minor theft offenders and make them wear pink undies and live in tents in 110 degrees, try that in a prison, and you would end up dead, plain and simple. If sherrif Joe's methods are so good as to be a deterrent why are they building more tent cities and have such an overpopulation of "prisoners"? And you had better start "rehabilitating" prisoners, because they do get OUT you know..


RE: $?
By BarkHumbug on 8/25/2008 9:10:56 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
And this is nothing more than the EU being it's typical self.


Now you're just being a whining EU-hating moron and you know it.

He appeals to the EU court and what are you expecting them to say? "The h3ll with it, I've read everything I need to know in the newspapers!" Right... It's not like it's going to take more then a couple of extra weeks anyway.

And in case you don't know it, US has a lot of rules and regulations in place regarding the extraditing of US citizens...


RE: $?
By Vinnybcfc on 8/25/2008 2:17:45 PM , Rating: 2
Maybe governments should start taking computer security more seriously as well, he used publicly avaliable programs no real skill involved, proper hackers could have done a lot worse damage.


RE: $?
By trisct on 8/26/2008 1:18:58 PM , Rating: 2
Finally some clear thought. The hacking should be an offense, of course, but lets look at the other side of the coin. If you leave your car unlocked with the keys in it and it gets stolen, your insurance company isn't going to recognize any "loss" at all. You are going to have to absorb the cost of your own foolish behavior. The theft is still illegal, but you aren't going to be able to claim any damages.

The same rules ought to apply to corporations, governments and the DOD.


RE: $?
By Some1ne on 8/25/2008 2:34:22 PM , Rating: 2
Oh come one now, you took a simple joke and used it to launch a long-winded political rant. Was that really necessary? Is someone paying you to debate politics on the Anandtech comment boards?

I don't even know where to being.

quote:
"Oh those evil American's will torture him like they do with terrorists."


Ahem, you mean suspected terrorists.

quote:
Well despite what the liberal media here says, inmates at Gitmo live better lives than many American's in terms of food and treatment.


They'd damn well better, considering that they're not inmates. To be an inmate you have to be arrested, charged with the crime, convicted by an impartial jury of peers, and then sentenced by a judge. You know, the whole "due process" thing, which is widely concerned to be a pretty basic human right. The people at Gitmo haven't been convicted of anything. Hell, they haven't even been formally charged with anything.

If they have really committed acts of terrorism or other crimes, and there is evidence to prove that fact, then by all means charge them, have them stand trial, and if they are convicted, then throw them in whatever hell-hole is deemed most appropriate. However, if there's not even enough evidence to charge them, let alone convict them in any "fair" court, then we have no right to be holding them against their will in the first place, and we'd damn well better be treating them right if we decide to do so anyways. Not that we are, given the number of stories of abuse and torture that have come out of Gitmo.

Flying people halfway across the world and holding them against their will with insufficient evidence to even charge them with a crime is bad enough, and the inhumane way in which they're treated only makes it worse. If you can't see that then your sense of human rights and justice is so ill-informed that this entire conversation is likely an exercise in futility.

quote:
How about we put the Gitmo detainees in the Arizona prison where they'll work on chain gangs in pink outfits and eat the bare minimum to live? Where they won't be allowed to practice their religious beliefs when it's convenient for them. Any of you hippies prefer that?


The people in the Arizona prison have been convicted of a crime, and as such, they deserve their little personal hell. The people in Gitmo have not, and deserve no such thing (yet). And for the record, I prefer that the people at Gitmo be charged with a crime, and then stand trial by jury (no "military tribunal" crap) if there is sufficient evidence for that sort of thing, or be set free and repatriated to wherever the hell they were picked up from (with full reimbursement for their stolen time and harsh treatment), when there is not sufficient evidence (or when the jury finds them innocent).

Holding them there indefinitely without charges or trial is unconscionable, regardless of how "nicely" you may think they are being treated. Of course, I can only speak for myself. I don't know what the "hippies" prefer. Probably some sort of pot, though.


RE: $?
By rudy on 8/25/2008 3:34:48 PM , Rating: 2
haha ya, I think the guy is stupid, he is basically wasting his own life away. Probably would already be out of jail if he had just pled guilty and done his time. Now who knows how old he will be when things finally pan out.


RE: $?
By Calin on 8/26/2008 6:41:40 AM , Rating: 1
"Something groups like the ACLU and Supreme Court deny more and more to American's every day. "

Yes, the every day of the Americans gets denied more and more because of the evil actions of the Supreme Court and the ACLU


RE: $?
By sandalsocks on 8/25/2008 2:34:19 AM , Rating: 3
Its called overtime, the armed forces also have civilian employees working directly for them. They also can hire consulting companies to work on their system.

I've put in 16 hours days for a couple days at a time to work on simple virus compromised systems b/c the customer didn't believe in patches.

Some1ne: you are right the gov does over spend and charge but I think $700k in this case is a conservative amount. The Gov probably lost more money and not disclosing it to loose face. They will get the guy on the criminal charges.


RE: $?
By sandalsocks on 8/25/2008 2:36:16 AM , Rating: 2
I meant not to loose face on the last part


RE: $?
By Proteusza on 8/25/2008 4:21:41 AM , Rating: 2
I think you meant not to lose face.

(Yes I'm a secret Grammar Nazi)


RE: $?
By foolsgambit11 on 8/25/2008 3:41:35 PM , Rating: 2
It didn't cost the government $700,000. Read carefully, it "caused an additional $700,000."

Don't ask me what that means.


hmmmm..
By abzillah on 8/25/2008 1:26:39 AM , Rating: 2
The EU is smart, because they don't want him to work for the US government once he is brought here and would rather higher him themselves.




RE: hmmmm..
By HercDriver on 8/25/2008 2:19:55 AM , Rating: 2
Contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, those who hack into US Government computers are NOT recruited by the CIA to work for the "white hat" team. He'll go to jail, serve his time, be released, and then be closely watched by both the US and UK governments. On the bright side, he may be hired by an internet security firm after his release (if he's not banned from computers or the internet as a condition of his release). I hope there aren't young hackers out there who try to break into government systems with the hope of being offered a job by said government, in recognition of their outstanding skills.

p.s. it's "hire" not "higher"