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'Bumbling nerd' who broke into Pentagon computers loses battle against extradition

British hacker could face 70-year jail term in US

Hope that European court will overturn Lords ruling

Bobbie Johnson, technology correspondent

The Guardian, Thursday 31 July 2008

A British hacker who broke into the Pentagon's computer systems said he was disappointed and angry after the

House of Lords yesterday dismissed his appeal against extradition to the US.

Gary McKinnon - dubbed "the world's most dangerous hacker" by the American authorities - could face trial in the US

for his actions, but vowed to continue fighting his case in the European courts.

"I'm very disappointed and very angry, but not too surprised," he told the Guardian. "It might be naive of me, but

perversely, I think I might have more chance in Europe than I do in my own country."

McKinnon said the Home Office had delayed extraditing him by two weeks to allow him time to lodge a higher

appeal. After that, the case could take two years to reach the courts. "Right now I'd be quite glad of a two-year

delay," he said. "It's better than being handed over to US marshals and being put on a plane straight away."

He said the case had proved devastating in the six years since he was arrested. With his bail conditions barring him

from using the internet, his previous work in IT is near-impossible, while potential employers are scared off.

"I've lost two jobs because of this - my bosses just didn't want to be associated with the publicity," he said.

The 42-year-old hacked into 97 computers belonging to the US military shortly after the attacks on the World Trade

Centre and Pentagon in 2001, using the codename "Solo".

American officials claim he infiltrated systems belonging to the department of defence, the US armed forces and even

Nasa - causing $700,000 (354,000) damage and threatening national security.

If extradited, McKinnon faces up to 70 years in prison and his lawyers have argued that he could even be given"enemy combatant" status, the same category applied to terrorist suspects interned at Guantnamo Bay. McKinnon's

lawyer, Karen Todner, said her client had now exhausted his options in the UK and would be taking his case to the

European court of human rights in Strasbourg.

"Gary McKinnon is neither a terrorist nor a terrorist sympathiser," she said. "His case could have been properly dealt

with by our own prosecuting authorities. Instead, we believe that the British government declined to prosecute him

to enable the US government to make an example of him.

"American officials involved in this case have stated that they want to see him 'fry'. The consequences he faces if

extradited are both disproportionate and intolerable and we will be making an immediate application to the

European court to prevent his removal."

McKinnon, an unemployed IT worker from north London, has consistently argued that he was merely a "bumbling

computer nerd" who caused no damage but was merely searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Between 2001

and 2002 he scanned thousands of US government computers from his bedroom, looking for loopholes which would

help him get inside their networks in order to prove his contention that the existence of aliens had been covered up

by the CIA.

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He left messages on the desktops of computers he had hacked into, a mistake that allowed the authorities to trace

him.

"It got a bit silly," he told the Guardian in 2005. "I suppose it means I'm not a secretive, sophisticated, checking-

myself-every-step-of-the-way type of hacker."

McKinnon's lawyers have argued that he should face trial in the UK as the hacking raids were conducted in Britain. If

the courts supported such a decision it would mean he would face a much smaller sentence under the UK's more

lenient computer crime laws. The defence argued he was being unfairly targeted because his work embarrassed theUS security services.

They also argued that an attempt by US prosecutors to make a deal with McKinnon - in which he would be offered a

six-month sentence for his cooperation - constituted an unfair derailment of British legal procedures. That contention

was rejected by the law lords, who said that granting the appeal would "imperil the integrity of the extradition

process".

Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood said in the written judgment: "The difference between the American system

and our own is not perhaps so stark as the appellant's argument suggests."

Computer security experts said it was unlikely US prosecutors would give up their pursuit. "The US is making a clear

stand that anyone making any attempts to compromise its computers and data will face the consequences," saidGraham Cluley, of IT security company Sophos.

PAST AND PRESENT

In the earliest days of computer hacking the main culprits were precocious teenagers with too much time on their

hands. Among the early pioneers was British hacker Robert Schifreen, who broke into BT's networks and gained

access to private inboxes - including one belonging to Prince Philip. A jury trial in 1985 acquitted Schifreen of any

wrongdoing - although his case resulted in the Computer Misuse Act of 1990 He now works as an IT consultant.

Hacker Kevin Poulsen became famous for a series of audacious stunts which netted him large sums of money. His

greatest hack involved commandeering the phone lines of a Los Angeles radio competition to ensure that he would

be the caller who won a Porsche sports car. Poulsen was found guilty for a series of crimes in 1994 and sentenced to51 months in prison. He is now a journalist for technology bible Wired.

Today hacking is popular with organised crime, with hackers employed to commit large-scale fraud. Chief among

them is Titan Rain, a gang of unknowns allegedly linked to the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which has raids

against government computers in Britain, the US and Germany.