I read today that ‘Pentagon uber-hacker’ (if you believe the US authorities, who presumably don’t want you to think that their security systems are akin to wet tissue paper) Gary McKinnon has lost his appeal in the Lords against his extradition to the USA. I think we can all feel sorry that a misguided but definitely non-malicious geek is going to get the book thrown at him.
Coincidentally, we also watched Sneakers last night, after I finally got around to buying it on DVD. It’s still one of my favourite films, even though occasionally it errs on being film-friendly rather than technically realistic (accoustic couplers in 1992?). The cast is fantastic, the script is great, and the appeal of a bunch of non-conformist, philanthropic hackers coming out on top is enduring.
What a shame life doesn’t imitate fiction a little more often.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Actually it probably is like Sneakers - it would be hard to tell, because like you pointed out with the Pentagon, big organisations dont want to appear weak, so if they do get infiltrated they probably wouldnt advertise it. It might happen a lot but we only hear about it when they get caught.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
“I think we can all feel sorry that a misguided but definitely non-malicious geek is going to get the book thrown at him.”
I’m not convinced he was non-malicious. I mean if I were facing those charges I would probably claim to be non-malicious too because it creates public sympathy. Maybe he was fishing for information to sell to foreign countries. That’s not unheard of… actually it seems pretty common.
July 30th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Screwed with the wrong military. Lock em up and throw away the keyboard. Just kidding.
Seriously though, I’m surprised the British justice system is so willing to hand him over. There must be some deal making happening off-line. Sounds like Gary has become a bargaining chip that the British govt can hold onto and cash-in in the future.
July 30th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Well, we have this ’special relationship’ which basically means a lot of give & take - mostly take on the US side when it comes to this kind of thing unfortunately, although the Brits do quite well out of the economic side I’m sure (until recently). I’d say its the exact opposite of our relationship with the Russians right now - when the US asks for something the Brits are usually inclined to cut them some slack, when the Russians ask for something now the default response is now to tell them to sod off (agents taking radioactive compounds into restaurants kinda sours relationships a bit). My guess is that the current chilly relationship with Russia makes it even more likely that US requests will be accepted, since we need a bouncer.
I wouldn’t be surprised if that all filters through to this kind of decision, even unofficially, which is tragic for people caught in the middle.
July 30th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Just curious…
After reading the wikipedia article, do you believe his motivation was finding proof of “extra-terrestrial” cover ups?. I think that seems like a fabricated excuse to me, but maybe he really believes.
July 30th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
It’s certainly plausible. Hearing about what he actually did, this doesn’t sound like a hardened hacker working for foreign powers at all.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
The more I read about him the more ‘nutty’ he sounds, but that’s not a crime I suppose. Maybe they should try to use an insanity defense.
I don’t think he deserves a lot of jail time or anything, but I don’t think you can let him off without any punishment.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Oh yeah, it’s fair enough for him to be prosecuted. But the USA wants to lock him up for decades it seems, which is way OTT. Seems even worse than what they did to Kevin Mitnick.
July 31st, 2008 at 4:12 pm
“It’s certainly plausible. Hearing about what he actually did, this doesn’t sound like a hardened hacker working for foreign powers at all.
”
That’s up to the courts to decide.
The potential for a long sentence is there precisely because the offense itself covers a wide range of posibilities, including spying for foreing powers.