NASA hacker: I'll plead guilty in the U.K.

Self-confessed hacker Gary McKinnon has told U.K. prosecutors he will plead guilty to charges in the U.K., a move that could help him avoid extradition to the U.S.

McKinnon has been accused by U.S. prosecutors of "the biggest military hack of all time," after entering NASA and Pentagon systems. His solicitor, Karen Todner, sent a letter to Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, to say McKinnon would plead guilty if tried in the U.K. under the Computer Misuse Act (CMA). The letter was sent on December 23, Todner told ZDNet UK on Monday.

Gary McKinnon

(Credit: ZDNet UK)

"Gary has committed offenses under the CMA, and has been diagnosed with Asperger's," said Todner. "I think it's time the DPP recognized that. Gary will plead guilty."

Todner said that under the CMA, McKinnon would receive a different sentence from the one he would receive if tried under U.S. law, as in the U.S. he would be prosecuted on charges of causing damage to military systems. She added that it is "generally accepted" McKinnon would receive a more lenient sentence in the U.K. The Londoner currently faces trial in the U.S., pending the outcome of an appeal to the High Court.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told ZDNet UK on Monday that it had received Todner's letter. "We can confirm we received the correspondence, and are considering that correspondence," said a CPS spokesperson, who added that no timescale could be given as to when Starmer would make a decision about the prosecution.

At the time of writing, 80 members of Parliament have given their support for an early day motion that the government request repatriation for McKinnon should he be tried and found guilty in the U.S. Prime Minister Gordon Brown in November spoke publically about McKinnon, boosting hopes he would serve any sentence in the U.K.

The self-confessed hacker, who was also known as "Solo," is accused by the U.S. government of hacking 97 U.S. military computers and causing over $700,000 of damage by deleting files. McKinnon has never denied accessing the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and NASA computers, but denies causing extensive damage. He claims he was initially searching for evidence of extra-terrestrial life, and later found evidence of antigravity projects. McKinnon faces up to 70 years in prison if found guilty by a U.S. court and, as it stands, would serve his sentence in the U.S.

Tom Espiner of ZDNet UK reported from London.

[Pete Bardo]

OMG, you mean to tell me that the country we fought so hard to get our freedom from oppression is now less oppressive than the U.S.? I guess I'm not that surprised.

[sythara]

Opressive, no. You don't pay tax rate of 65%.

Harder punishment for crimes, yes. You do the crime, you do the time. We're not talking about something stupid here.

[stuxstu]

Do you think he would get a lite punishment if he hacked UK Military systems?

Hacking should be a tough punishment....

[tm_anon]

If he had stolen computer equipment from the US military, he'd be tried under US law. If he had been caught spying on the US military, he'd be tried under US law. He hacked into US military computers in order to view data, that's spying. That's also theft of information. Whether or not he deleted a single file does not change the fact of his other crimes and at the very least those should be tried under US military law. If I hacked into the military database of any other country I would fully expect that, if caught, I'd be tried under their laws. Know the punishment and be willing to accept it before you do the crime.

[ferretboy88]

he should be hung. That way no one will try stuff like this again.

[epross]

We should thank him, after this attack, I'm sure they beefed up security. That way the next guy with a box cutter and a bad attitude (hopefully) won't be able to get in and do some real damage.

Still, he must be a wack job. Looking for E.T. ? LOL

[anthony f wood]

Must be a wack job? Read up on Asperger's syndrome. I have a nephew with it and he needs to be kept to a routine or else he falls apart from confusion. He thinks reality & video games are the same even though life's experiences intrude on his "reality".He gets fixated on things even though he is very smart. There are other aspects to this disorder but if this hacker is truly an Aperger's sufferer then the case will obviously not go ahead as McKinnon is not mentally culpable. He may, however, be institutionalized for his and the public good.

[Electro_Fox]

Phoooonnne Hoommmeee!!

[Electro_Fox]

Oh and by the way, can I get cheese on my asperger, with a side of pickles please?

(PS _ I'm making fun of his defense motion NOT the affliction, so I don't wanna hear it. Kthxbye.)

[gsigas]

The U.K. courts and penal system are of a sufficient standard that he probably should be tried and sentenced, or allowed to plea in the U.K. system as long as the criminal charges are accepted (not dismissed before a trial/plea) in the U.K. courts. As long as he stands trial (or submits a plea) for the charges brought against him by the U.S. it doesn't really matter if it is in the U.K. or U.S. and realistically the time served would probably not be that different. The only way the time/penalty served would be significantly different is if the charges he has to defend against were made lesser in the U.K.

[tm_anon]

That's the exact reason he wants to plead guilty in the UK. The charges that would be brought against him are of a lesser order than what he would be charged with under US law.

[JFDMit]

One thing that will differ if he's tried in the UK is the charges he will face. US courts love to pad out the charge-sheet with dozens of bogus offenses for the same crime (the $700k "damage" for deleting files is a case in point - what, NASA, no backups?), in the hope of getting the perp so terrified that they'll plead out to a lesser charge and save the court the time/money of a real trial. UK courts tend of frown on such tactics, so he might plead guilty to what he actually did, rather than what some creative prosecutor fantasized that he did.

[romek]

Jesus people listen to yourselves... "he should be hung" and "Harder punishment for crimes, yes. You do the crime, you do the time." or how about this little statement.... "Oppressive, no. You don't pay tax rate of 65%.".

First of all get your facts straight, I live in the UK we don't pay 65% tax here (we also have a great universal SOCIAL health system). Plus what does oppression have to do with taxes anyway????

Next, think this through a bit... the guy is a nut (or not) whatever... he doesn't want to be sent to Gitmo for breaking into a computer system which should have been better secured to begin with (if it really had all this VERY secret information). You'd think the US military should have better safeguards in place (as you seem to trust them with some pretty dangerous weapons).
The US has become a very aggressive, oppressed, and paranoid country. What do you think he was looking for? The date the US will invade Iran? Come on.. get over it. About the most corrupt thing here is the US government (with their little secret prisons, invading other sovereign nations, and convenient removal of basic human rights to anyone THEY see fit (without any need to explain themselves and without ANY control).
I hope this guys gets off free...

[ranpha]

The UK has a great SOCIAL health system? Hahahahahahahaha!
UK's universal health system is a poster child of 'how not to do universal health care'.

Spoken by someone who was born in UK and lived there for the first 25 years of his life.

[sythara]

Oh stop with your political statements. This isnt politics thread so go away. And UK is borderline socialism as USSR once was, and thats coming from someone who lived in USSR... so don't give me that.

We're not talking about Gitmo here anyway, that place will be shut down soon. The guy commited a serious freakin crime, what does he expect to happen? a slap on the wrist? He willingly and knowingly broke a serious law, he needs to be punished acordingly. While hanging him probably isnt an option, something serious still needs ot be done.

[ferretboy88]

He should be hung. I DON'T LIKE CRIMINALS. THIS STUFF NEEDS TO STOP.

[maxsell]

You do the crime you do the time. This is spying and he should do the maximum in the US federal prison. Social Health care is a joke, you shouldn't be proud of it.

[knowles2]

Well as a national citizen he should be tried in the UK and sent to wel a undisclosed location and skills use to the advantage of this country, I am personally thinking a nice luxury pad in London and work for government should be all that happens to this bloke.

I do not actually think he will ever extradited, his lawyers are persistence and stubborn and his support from the public and from parliament and the prime minister, means it almost certain that the cps will accept his plead and he will get a slap on the risk, probably 18 months suspended sentence. If not that just make the charges disappear on nation security grounds

Also until American congress agrees to the same extradition treaty for their citizens that we have for ours then we should not be extraditing any one to the USA .
I believe the police and MI5 and CPS have a rather long list of IRA supporters who funded their terrorise activities from their base in the US, that they would not mind being extradited over here.

[tstacey]

Webster?s Dictionary tells us a hacker is ?a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system.? Let?s focus on one word from the definition, "illegally". What was he doing? He was illegally accessing a system of which he had no authorization. This means he used his knowledge of systems to maneuver through security which involved in-depth process. He didn't stumble his way into it. He made a way to get in. This guy fits the definition. I've read all the comments above and am still trying to discern where some of you live, not physically but mentally. ?If you commit the crime you should do the time.? I agree totally with this statement. He committed the crime intentionally so he should face the consequences, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by those whom the offense was directed. I?m sure he was aware what he did was illegal. He?s looking for the high road out of this and is hiding behind idealistic reasoning. He is willing to admit to the crime only if he is tried for the crime outside of where the crime was committed. This kind of thinking and rational seems to be catching on with the new generation. Who cares what I do or even if I get caught, just as long as I can wiggle my way out of it through philosophical reasoning. All one has to do is read the headlines of those in the lime light caught red handed. They hire their high-end lawyer and commence with their one or two year trials to the end of a slap on the hand like a naughty little child. Perish the thought he face up to it like a man!!

[sar10538]

What a bunch of yankie fudgepackers you lot are!!! I guess you want to put him away for 70 years for this, murderers get less time than that. If the military connect insecure systems to the internet containing secret classified files, they are the ones who should get 70 years, not him. To connect anything with classified data to the Internet is stooooopid to the extreme!!! The military are the criminals for allowing this to happen and then seeking out a scape-goat but I bet no-one in the military gets kicked up the jaxy for this.

[Electro_Fox]

Ooh! The Jaxy!! Shama-lama-ding-dong and a skip-diddly-doo! ***, Limey???

[whochosedilligafbeforeme]

As I understand it, the difference between breaking and entering, or burglarization or whatever you septics call it, and trespass is breaking and entering involves breaking in. Trespass is when you wander in through an open door that you had no right to, no force (or "hacking" in this instance) required. This is what he did, isn't it? And for this he deserves either 70 years in a foreign nick or "to fry" and be shipped out of the country where he was when he did what he did?

How long should George W Bush spend in jail for breaking into various middle-eastern states he had no right to enter? (Smoking gun video? Don't make me laugh).

Is it really a secret how many fish fingers are loaded on to US Navy vessels? If so, why are they on (apparently) unprotected computers accessible via the internet? Why are those computers able to access other computers that did have "real" secrets on? Why do the admin accounts on those computers have no passwords? Come on, even my 70 year old Mum knows to do that. And back up her data, too. Surely whoever in US military IT was responsible for security needs at least as much of a butt-kicking as this spanner looking for Alf...?

Is it any surprise the Oxford English dictionary is a better reference source than Websters? If the compilers of that book can only think of one definition for hacking, and we're putting the spotlight on just one word of that definition, I suspect we could probably do better. It's not one of the worlds most complex and nuanced languages for nothing, you know. Be less selective, please.

It's pretty apparent that using your intelligence and contemplating the consequences of your actions isn't a particularly common trait among Americans, so perhaps McKinnon, rather than try to explain the difference between what he's accused of and what he allegedly did (let's face it - none of us here actually know for certain what he did, do we?) should just find God - that seems to allow any number of "Get out of jail free" cards (being alcoholic, drunk-driving, cocaine-abusing etc) in American society.

Hell if he did that it'd only be his nationality that'd stop him running for president, and if the governator* has his way, even that wouldn't be a problem.

* and the shadowy forces in his background

[whedonworship]

"He was illegally accessing a system of which he had no authorization."

Er, he didn't need authoriSation, there were no passwords set on those systems. If he'd needed authoriSation he wouldn't have been able to "hack" them. I think most of you don't understand what actual hackers actually do. Wandering into military databases should require serious decoding and decryption skills. All he had to do was find one of the apparently abundant computers which didn't even have a password. He had all the "authorization" he needed. It's like leaving the keys in your ignition, leaving the door open and walking away from your car. If you do that, you know your car is going to be stolen. If you don't password protect your systems, you KNOW someone's going to wander in there. You should all be grateful it was some UFO seeker rather than a member of the Taliban, or one of your very own home grown terrorists.

The only reason the US government wants to see him jailed is because he showed up what a bunch of incompetent morons they are and how very little they know about system security.

"He should be hung. I DON'T LIKE CRIMINALS. THIS STUFF NEEDS TO STOP."

You should be hung. I DON'T LIKE MORONIC COMMENTS. THIS STUFF NEEDS TO STOP.

Gary McKinnon should be hung, but GWB should be allowed to walk free? GM should be hung, but Rumsfeld and Cheney are in the clear? Some guy who accessed "secret" government files should be hung/fried/jailed for the rest of his natural, but the people who took your country into an illegal war, and who have introduced laws that allow them to read your emails (thereby accessing your secret files) are fine by you? Glad to see that the worlds current superpower is populated by educated folk.

And FYI the National Health Service may not be perfect, but at least our chronic/terminally ill patients don't have to fight insurance companies to get the treatment they need and HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR!

[whedonworship]

"He is willing to admit to the crime only if he is tried for the crime outside of where the crime was committed. " Er...I think you'll find he was in the UK when the crime was committed. The crime was committed in cyberspace. Should we try him there? Lets have a virtual trial, and he can go to virtual prison. Try to make some sense.