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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. |
Source
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/27042006/80-91/hunting-ufos-says-pentagon-s-uk-hacker.html
Now this guy knows more than he he saying, So what is it? Secret Alien Disecting Labs or maybe a Galactic Prison somewhere on earth run by some sort of Alien UN equivalent? Other than that, I can't wait till he leaks everything he knows, Because when he gets extradited, I'll finally get my hands on what the US Government is hiding.I don't pretend to offend anyone, but if I break into a 'Top Security System' and get confidential information, I'm not guilty of anything, the guilty should be the goverment that uses weak protection systems and the security guys in military networks are the guys that should be in prison by their incompetence.
I has always been better to find a 'guilty' than to recognize that you are WRONG! (Is a way to avoid SHAME) 
I wish I met that guy. He could tell me everything about what he saw. That way I wouldn't have to do what he did.
I don't feel there's any excuse, aliens or not, to attempt to break into government-related computers. Saying it's the government's fault for using a "weak security system" is like saying that Bush is responsible for making Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans (as if he had control over it).
I'll take what Soulfire said a step further...there is no reason whatsoever to hack, crack, bypass, phreak, or otherwise enter anyone's computer or network without permission. In the US we have a law which garauntees the "Implied Right to Privacy", and that law also covers computer tampering. I can also tell you from a professional standpoint that if you use any kind of modem that routes through the phone company...in any fashion, they will also seek prosecution for telecommunications theft, which is a Federal Offense in the US.
It's all fun, but everyone around here should keep in mind that it does not matter if you yourself don't think it's illegal or wrong...it is illegal and wrong....by law.
This guy is just getting himself into more trouble...
Today's world is not that of trustworthy people who live in harmony... In today's society you need all the protection you can get, if you can't provide it, your not gunna float...
to put it in a "religious" view, back in the days of adam and eve and the magical garden of happiness.. They didn't have to wear clothes, worry about people (not that there were any others) burning they're happy land, worry about rape, theft, etc. But they screwed up... Now we live in a world of mistrust... Why do you think we wear clothes? It's to protect ourselfs... From what you may ask? From others' eyes, from others' perverted thoughts, from our insecurities (lol, some of us)
if the government is hiding vidal information from us and some guy on a 56k modem in another country can easily view that information... Then why not view it? All he did was view the information through a more advanced, raw procedure..
Here's a true story... Ok... my friend's dad was going on a flight to new york and he is a businessman who tends to carry large amounts of cash with him, wherever he goes... So he always carries this huge scary-arse chrome pistol with him...
Today he happen to have it in his brief case... So he was at the airport, going through security when he remembers.. OH #%^8! I have that big shiny gun in my carry-on! So he goes through... THEY DONT SPOT A THING.. So he's on the plane, in the air, with a huge gun...
It just shows that if America needs to tighten security if they don't want their arse kicked from behind...
This logic only goes so far, for example, mentally handicapped people can't really think properly (they're as smart as us, but can't flow the data correctly) There's nothing they can do to prevent anything... It's up to the stronger to help the weaker, or what often happens is the stronger gains the trust of the weaker, more insecure and then deceives them for personal gain..
The world is all a game, where no right and wrong exist, it's all perception (unless you believe in some religious w/e, and i'll respect that)
@OtakuBoi
hmmm...interesting. So what your saying is that if I can traceroute you to your IP, bypass your firewall and access your computer, it's perfectly alright for me to view your personal information (i.e. credit card numbers, billing information, password files, personal diaries, etc.) simply because you didn't take the right precautions to keep me out?
If I was hacking the pentagon and was worried that I might get caught... I would make up a bullshit story about UFO's too.
A little bit worrying that the US military uses Microsoft, and didn't even have password protection.
| Vrythramax wrote: |
@OtakuBoi
hmmm...interesting. So what your saying is that if I can traceroute you to your IP, bypass your firewall and access your computer, it's perfectly alright for me to view your personal information (i.e. credit card numbers, billing information, password files, personal diaries, etc.) simply because you didn't take the right precautions to keep me out? |
Sure, I've challenged many people with bypassing my computer's security, and it's only happened once, I don't really mind, most of my important stuff is encrypted on external drives/whatnot... I found the rootkit a few days after and made some patches and yeah... It's sorta like a game/hobby to me 
Yeah, when in desperation...just claim to be searching for UFOs. And yes it is extremely worrying that the government and supposedly top-secret information can be easily hacked into.
$700,000 is a small dent in $460 (odd) billion wich is I believe is the present annual U.S.A defence budget so I dont think he intentionally wanted to damage systems and if he did well he was pretty crap about it,
what does surprise me is that (any) government would use a comercially available OS to hold "top secret information" 
| Soulfire wrote: |
| I don't feel there's any excuse, aliens or not, to attempt to break into government-related computers. Saying it's the government's fault for using a "weak security system" is like saying that Bush is responsible for making Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans (as if he had control over it). |
What happens when u keep ur main house door open and u get robbed |?
yes it is wrong to hack in to the gov security systems , but isnt it the goverments responsibility to ensure all the systems are safe ?Yeah, that's like banks using combination master locks to lock up their vaults 
American intelligence
There's an oxymoron if there ever was one.
I agree with most of the people who say that this what this guy did was wrong. Unfortunately there are people in this world who have a blatant disregard for other people's property and security. But in the same breath it must be pointed out that the US government, with more resources that the rest of the world, appeared to do very little to prevent such illegal activity.
Mistake 1) using micro$oft
Mistake 2) not using a password
Mistake 3) having a blatant disregard for their own safety and security, never mind that of the population they are meant to protect.
Now they are trying to label this guy a terrorist, have him extradited to the US so that they can "punish" him. LEAVE THE GUY ALONE. He is already in prison in the UK, no doubt found guilty by a jury of his peers, the legal process has run its course. What more can they do to him in the US? Is the US legal system superior to the UK system?
I see guilt on both sides of this story, more so with the hacker though. the govt is being dumb. at the end of the day they are the ones who end up looking stupid, not ufo-hunting geek. They should have just kept quiet about the whole thing because it really shows how incompetant they are in securing delicate information.
I would also like to know what he found out. but as for the whole moral debate, sure its bad to go poking around in places you have no business poking around in. however, if a door is ajar you are going to open it and see what's inside. right? why wasn't that door locked in the first place. So basically both parties screwed up!
I pity the poor guy. He should never have been extradited to the USA. All he was looking for was information. If he really wanted to do any harm, he would and could have done so easily already.
I do share the surprise of many readers about the lack of security in the network. From a country that says it wants to combat terrorism and protect the world, one would expect a little bit more expertise. But then again, the whole war on terror is just a cover up to boost several industries and to give certain people a change to obtain even bigger wealth. Nothing wrong with obtaining wealth, unless it is reached by abusing or mistreating other people.
This guy probably will get squashed in the US justice and penal system. He'll probably be packing boxes for the software manufacturer whose OS he hacked into. for more info: http://cbae.nmsu.edu/~dboje/telling.html
God bless America,
coz He knows they need it....
grtz Hmm. Very interesting. I wonder if there is more to this story, because they need to have more! I am addicted to this story. They had better get more news of this! 
Why do they want $1.7 million when the damage cost $700,00? and 70 years is madness. Their clearly just trying to make a big impression when in fact theres no need and their now being made to look bullish They're probably trying to intimidate people, "Look what happened this this guy, want it to happen to you too?"
Basically, they're compensating for something (they're lack of security) | mathiaus wrote: |
| Why do they want $1.7 million when the damage cost $700,00? and 70 years is madness. Their clearly just trying to make a big impression when in fact theres no need and their now being made to look bullish |
I've also wondered that, But I guess it's the government. They seem to be able to do things we arent allowed and get away with it.i wont be surprised ,if the hacker ends up working for the US gov later on
