Thu, July 31, 2008
BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhuanet)-- Gary McKinnon of Britan, accused of having hacked into U.S. military computer systems in 2001 and 2002, has lost his appeal against extradition to the United States, according to media reports Thursday.
McKinnon, 42, an unemployed computer administrator, broke into 97 computers belonging to the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Department of Defense from a bedroom in a north London home in what he claims was a search for UFOs.
In the biggest hack of military computers ever detected, McKinnon's attacks between 2001 and 2002 were alleged to have deleted data from U.S. military systems and disrupted military operations. Prosecutors put the total cost of his online activities at 900,000 U.S. dollars.
In his defense, McKinnon, known online as SOLO, claimd that he was motivated by the desire to uncover information about UFOs.
In interviews, he claimed that his hacking uncovered photographic proof of alien spacecraft and the names and ranks of "non-terrestrial officers."
Prosecutors accused him of deliberately trying to intimidate the U.S. government by tearing through their networks. They pointed to a note written by McKinnon -- and left on an Army computer -- attacking U.S. foreign policy as "akin to government-sponsored terrorism."
McKinnon was caught in 2002 after some of the software used in the attacks was traced back to his girlfriend's e-mail account.
McKinnon's lawyers hoped to hold any trial in Britain, saying he could be dragged before a military tribunal or even end up at Guantanamo Bay.
Should McKinnon be extradited, he would face trial in Virginia and New Jersey on eight counts of computer fraud, according to Scott Christie, who was the lead prosecutor in the case in New Jersey before going into private practice.
While each count potentially carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and 250,000 dollars in fines, Christie said U.S. sentencing guidelines would likely recommend a much lighter penalty.
(Agencies)
