Hacker Broke Into Pentagon System Searching for Aliens
The court refused a British hacker in his appeal against being extradited to the United States where he is accused of breaking into the computer systems of Pentagon, US army, navy and NASA. Gary McKinnon could face up to 70 years in jail. After he was arrested in 2002 it was revealed that the damage he caused equals $700,000.
Mr McKinnon claimed that he was just curious about the existence of aliens. In 2006 he said that he was just a computer nerd, who became obsessed with the process of searching through military networks for proof of extra-terrestrial existence.
The highest court of Great Britain, the House of Lords, ruled that the man should face a maximum charge under English law - life sentence. It refused the man's appeal against extradition.
The lawyers of Mr McKinnon outlined that it would be a violation of his human rights in case the man is sent to the United States. They added that Mr McKinnon's extradition was in fact sought "for the purpose of prosecuting him on account of his nationality or political opinions".
In May 2006 a district court ruled that Mr McKinnon should be extradited. In April 2007 the decision was supported at London's High Court. The same year three top judges of Britain allowed Mr McKinnon to take his case to the House of Lords. In case the man is found guilty in the United States, he could face up to 70 years in jail and a penalty fine of up to $1.75 million.
It is worth mentioning that in the period between February 2001 and March 2002 Mr McKinnon used his home computer in London to illegally penetrate into 97 systems of the US Government. He is now accused of shutting down for 24 hours the whole US Army's Military District of Washington network, which consists of more than 2,000 computers.
Under the nickname "Solo", McKinnon, who used a limited 56K dial-up modem, discovered that lots of US security systems were running on insecure Microsoft Windows program, having no password protection. Afterwards he scanned military networks using the software he purchased off-the-shelf. The man said that he found evidence from senior figures reporting about the existence of technology received from aliens.
Paul McNulty, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, stated: "Mr McKinnon is charged with the biggest military computer hack of all time".
Source: News.com.au from correspondets in London
Powered by www.infoniac.comComments:
- 0 votes
//17 Feb 18, 2010 01:36 PM | posted by:
cyberbob12 [InfoTOT]
- Why would this man be put in jail for hacking for aliens? Shouldn't they consider that perhaps he is just mentally insane for believing in aliens? If the government finds him dangerous because of the information he discovered then maybe it is true aliens do exist.
- 0 votes
//16 Feb 18, 2010 01:32 PM | posted by: Cyberbob12 - Why would this man be put in jail for hacking for aliens? Shouldn't they consider that perhaps he is just mentally insane for believing in aliens? If the government finds him dangerous because of the information he discovered then maybe it is true aliens do exist.
- 0 votes
//15 Dec 17, 2009 03:03 AM | posted by: mimi - let him go!
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//14 Jul 27, 2009 07:01 AM | posted by: alien19_90--89 - I'm hack pentagon on windows 95 without i-net
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//13 Jul 24, 2009 08:49 PM | posted by: tengkorak - hahaha.....................
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//12 Jan 27, 2009 09:11 PM | posted by: Sa - You are mean. Do you like suck
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//11 Sep 10, 2008 05:11 PM | posted by: Unknown - Where is he held now? Anyone knows?
- 1 votes
//10 Aug 05, 2008 03:33 AM | posted by: Unknown - This is unfair, someone with his abilities to access so called "secure" US military servers containing such highly secret documents should not be arrested for "looking" for ET. But awarded with a job making the information secure. Thus making both sides happy.
Peace - 0 votes
//9 Aug 03, 2008 12:10 PM | posted by: Harrison - Please free the man, maybe probation.
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//8 Aug 03, 2008 11:57 AM | posted by: mike - this is nonsense, the chinese hack the pentagon all day long, and a guy on a 56k modem finds these window problems. THe govt. fucked up for not being prepared,, thats the usual problem...
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//7 Aug 03, 2008 12:07 AM | posted by: SuhaRik - Hacker...Stupid Aliens :)
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//6 Aug 02, 2008 05:49 PM | posted by: Rhenjamin - This is just plain sad. Punishments are supposed to fit the crime. Theres no reason to throw this mans life away. Just another example of whats wrong with the US today.
- 1 votes
//5 Aug 02, 2008 12:39 PM | posted by: cehr - A genius goes to wast
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//4 Aug 02, 2008 06:54 AM | posted by: LOL - "Under the nickname "Solo", McKinnon, who used a limited 56K dial-up modem, discovered that lots of US security systems were running on insecure Microsoft Windows program, having no password protection."
----> Windows XP SP1 anyone?!??! hahahhah
Honestly i think its absolute horseshit that people get arrested PERIOD for such a SiMPLE hack. I know exactly what he did, and this information should really be made public knowledge all over the planet. It's PURELY the pentagon's fault for running machines with Windows XP SP1 and no admin password. SP2's local security policy has been adjsted to fix this.
So, Moral of the story: The pentagon has issues with Windows Update, AND, our gentlemen of a hacker shoulda used a secure connection... thinking "outside" of the box coulda came in handy :) - 0 votes
//3 Aug 01, 2008 07:50 PM | posted by: Ninja - This man foudn the exploits in your network and didnt abuse it, he could of done so much more to destroy the US. Yet he didnt. He shud be free!
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//2 Aug 01, 2008 04:51 PM | posted by: DmT - This man is in jail, hello.
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//1 Aug 01, 2008 03:48 PM | posted by: Rohit - Damn idiots. Let the man go...
