NASA hacker case adjourned over extradition fears

Gary McKinnon, the U.K. citizen accused of hacking into computer systems run by NASA and the U.S. military, will not be extradited across the Atlantic to face trial unless the U.S. can guarantee he won't be treated as a terrorist.

At a hearing at Bow Street Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, McKinnon's lawyers claimed that he could be detained indefinitely by the U.S. authorities. McKinnon is charged with illegally accessing 97 U.S. government computers and causing $700,000 worth of damage over a 12-month period starting in Feb. 2001.

Last year, McKinnon told ZDNet UK that he had accessed the computers because he was looking for evidence that the U.S. had found extraterrestrial life. He denied causing serious damage.

Lawyers for the defense told the court that the U.S. could choose to treat McKinnon under its "military order No. 1," which allows suspected terrorists to be tried under military law.

District Judge Nicholas Evans, who is hearing the case, ruled that the extradition request would be denied unless American officials could guarantee they would not prosecute McKinnon under the order.

"All you have to do is satisfy the court he is not at risk," said Evans, according to The Guardian. "And if you cannot, then there is a problem."

The case is due to resume on March 14.

Graeme Wearden of ZDNet UK reported from London.

Windows problem

I thought this was funny:

"'I found out that the US military use Windows,' said Mr
McKinnon in that BBC interview. 'And having realised this, I
assumed it would probably be an easy hack if they hadn't
secured it properly.' Using commercially available software, Mr
McKinnon probed dozens of US military and government
networks. He found many machines without adequate password
or firewall protection. So, he simply hacked into them," Boyd
reports."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4715612.stm

[catchall]

Not a Windows problem

Any network that is not secured correctly, regardless of the OS, is easy pickings. I seem to remember it being so badly administered that nothing would have saved it.

[heystoopid]

Strangeirony!

Strange even sony's dreaded hidden XCP rootkit installer, infected many thousands of government network computers, yet they continue to take no action!

Amazing double standards at work!