Scotsman behind "the biggest military computer hack of all time"

[Pizzle]

GARY McKinnon, the Scot accused by US authorities of carrying out the "biggest military computer hack of all time", yesterday lost his High Court bid to avoid extradition, triggering a flurry of messages of support from the online community.

The 41-year-old could spend the rest of his life behind bars if he is found guilty of gaining access to some 97 military and NASA computers in the United States from his bedroom in a North London house.

John Reid, the Home Secretary, granted the US request to extradite him for trial in July, and yesterday McKinnon's lawyers, who claimed he had been subjected to "improper threats", failed to convince judges that the move would breach his human rights.

Ben Cooper, appearing for McKinnon, said a bid would now be made to appeal the case to the House of Lords.

In their judgment, Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Mr Justice Goldring revealed their "distaste" for the American plea bargaining system.

Edmund Lawson, QC, also appearing for McKinnon, had described to the court how solicitors were told of the "determination of the New Jersey authorities to see Mr McKinnon fry" during plea bargaining negotiations in 2003.

McKinnon, born in Glasgow, was warned that he could receive a longer sentence and be denied repatriation to serve his sentence in the UK if he did not go to the US voluntarily. He would face the prospect of an unknown length of time in pre-trial detention, with no likelihood of bail.

If he was then found guilty, he would face a very long prison sentence, "in the region of 45 years, if not more". The maximum would be 60 years.

Mr Lawson argued that the threats infringed McKinnon's family and private life rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and were grounds for blocking extradition.

The judges disagreed, ruling that there had been no abuse of process.

They said: "We make no secret of the fact that we view with a degree of distaste the way in which the American authorities are alleged to have approached the plea bargain negotiations."

But they added: "We do not consider that we should allow our cultural reservations about this style of plea bargaining to stand in the way of extradition. We are satisfied that Mr McKinnon will be fairly treated by US courts."

McKinnon has spoken of how he became fascinated by hacking after watching the film WarGames. An interest in science fiction, fuelled by stories of UFOs told to him by his stepfather, who hails from near Bonnybridge - widely known as an apparent UFO "hotspot" - fired his desire to access "incredibly interesting places".

His hobby did not go undetected and he was arrested in November 2002. McKinnon is charged with using his computer skills to gain access to 53 US army computers, including those used for national defence and security, and 26 US navy computers, including those at US naval weapons station Earle in New Jersey, responsible for replenishing munitions and supplies for the deployed Atlantic fleet.

McKinnon is also charged with hacking into 16 NASA computers and one US defence department computer.

Allegations include copying and deleting data and causing damage which cost more than $700,000 (£350,000) to repair.

Later, Jeffrey Anderson, of the law firm Kaim Todner, said there was evidence that the New Jersey prosecutors' expressed intention to see McKinnon "fry" was a reference to capital punishment by the electric chair. This was "a chilling and intimidating threat", Mr Anderson said.

He said it now looked as though the US intended to prosecute McKinnon as a cyber- terrorist, "which could lead to him spending the rest of his life in prison in the US with repatriation to serve his sentence in Britain denied as punishment for contesting extradition".

The news prompted scores of sympathy messages on internet chatrooms and blogs, with some describing him as a naive enthusiast who was being punished for inadvertently exposing flaws in US military online security.

However, among the supportive comments were more critical remarks from hackers, who said McKinnon gave them "a bad name".

[Don Rizzle]

he shouldn't be extradicted, the crime was commited here so he should tried and sentenced here, americans just got their panties in twist when they realised they didn't know anything about internet security

[Chief]

lol, hackers always had a bad name in my book.

[Boo-Yaa †]

They should be thankful!

[Primo]

Apparently he was looking for any information about UFOs/Aliens. I have seen interviews with him saying that he saw things in the nature of "Non-terrestrial officers"

[7even]

Apparently he was looking for any information about UFOs/Aliens. I have seen interviews with him saying that he saw things in the nature of "Non-terrestrial officers"

damn, nigga must be stuck in the 90s then