By Colin Barker, 7 July 2006 08:35
NEWS
Gary McKinnon, the so-called 'Nasa hacker', is to be extradited to the US within the next two weeks, the Home Office announced on Thursday.
In May, McKinnon lost his appeal against extradition and has been waiting for the final decision of the Home Secretary, John Reid.
The Home Office said in a statement: "Mr McKinnon had exercised his right to submit representations against return but the Secretary of State did not consider the issues raised availed Mr McKinnon. Mr McKinnon now has the opportunity, within 14 days, to appeal against the decisions of the District Judge/Secretary of State."
The news came the day after Boris Johnson MP went into print to condemn the UK government's handling of extradition to the US. McKinnon is facing extradition under the Extradition Treaty of 2003 which was rushed into law after the terrorist attacks of 11 September, 2001.
But, as Johnson pointed out in an article published in The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, the Act has not been ratified by the US government, so while McKinnon is being extradited to the US under the terms of the Act, the UK government cannot extradite a US citizen to the UK.
McKinnon was accused of one of the biggest military hacks ever, when he hacked into a series of sites belonging to the US Air Force, Army, Department of Defense and, most famously, Nasa.
The US government alleged McKinnon's hacking activities caused $700,000 worth of damage. McKinnon has always denied causing any damage to the US systems and under the terms of the controversial Extradition Treaty, the US government has not been required to show any evidence.
McKinnon has always maintained his activities were harmless and that he was more concerned with finding evidence of extra-terrestrial activity than causing damage but he did admit to causing some damage through wiping some files. According to McKinnon, he was only able to gain access to the systems because security was lax.
Colin Barker writes for ZDNet UK
Comments
There are 9 comments. Join the discussion
1. Martin Lukes
But not both ways.....
Any comment on why this government passed extradition to the US as law wthout ANY reciprocal agreement?
Apart from them being odious toadying crawlers, obviously.
2. Charles Wood
Any comment on why a BRITISH citizen is subject to American law when he is not in America?
I would accept a British person being prosecuted in Britain, under British law. Or a British person, who committed a crime in America, being detained and subjected to American law. But a British person, living in Britain being expcted to be subject to American law seems wrong.
Even in the UK you can ask for a trial to be moved to within the physical jurisdiction of a person being prosecuted. Does this concept suddenly not apply here then?
Have I suddenly become an American subject without me realising it?
3. Anonymous Too
Why should the fact that the US haven't reciprocated make any difference to this guy’s extradition? All that matters is that due process was followed….. of course the “due process” sounds a little flaky- USA doesn’t have to show any evidence for extradition! This sounds like a tool well open to abuse.
The “Nasa” Hacker – anyone remember the X25 hack at NASA 17 years ago? – shouldn’t have been in someone else’s system. And the USA should be ashamed of themselves for such poor security measure on such sensitive systems.
No doubt the USA will give him a fair trial, find him guilty and sentence him to an inordinate length of time in prison as retribution (for their poor security measures).
4. anonymous
Poor security - prosecute anyone who highlights the inadequacies
Reminiscent of the prosecution of the teenagers who accessed 'secure' (HA!) government agencies sites using the publically documented values (This software is shipped with system/test as the default ID and password, please change them when you install the software.)
Nothing seems to get done about those who failed to do their assigned, and presumably paid for, work to ensure the security of the sites.
Sort of like complaining that your windows system has been accessed using 'Administrator' as the id,
or that your gun, and laptop with military secrets has gone from the public rest room where you left it while you had a few drinks in a nearby bar.
5. Dean Mitchener
/roflmao - Always makes me laugh how the Americans try and dictate the worlds justice :) I think that the Boston Tea party was more about Micky mouse Juice rather than the tea! What about all the folks who don't get caught!
They have the last laugh I'm sure.
6. Richard Starnes
Under both US and UK criminal law,
jurisdiction may be claimed where a
computer crime is enacted from, where
effect takes place or if the attack
transits through either country. Legally
the crime took place in both countries.
However, due to double jeopardy, no
can be prosecuted for the same crime
more than once. There are some
exceptions, but we won’t go into that
here. Therefore, it has to be
prosecuted in one jurisdiction or the
other. The US has chosen to
commence extradition proceedings
against Mr. McKinnon so he might stand
trial in the US.
I can’t speak to the motives of the
prosecutors, but I suspect there might
be several reasons behind this
decision. The UK has a history of
handing down very light sentences for
hacking offences; anywhere from
community service to 3 years as a
maximum. The seriousness and
publicity surrounding the alleged
offence is no doubt a factor. Mr.
McKinnon also did himself no favors in
being interviewed by the press. At the
end of the day, the reason he did it
doesn’t matter, be it: looking for aliens,
poor security of the victim, etc. Pure
and simple he broke the law and now
he will have to pay the consequences
of hi actions. The reason someone
committed a crime is usually only
taken into account when deciding what
to charge them with and in the
sentencing phase.
Starsky and Hutch: “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”
7. anonymous
It's just another example of Blair and his cronies kissing Bush's big fat arse.
8. anonymous
IMHO - Blair should be tried for treason and, if found guilty, hang for it. That 2003 extradition treaty makes a mockery of British citizenship and sovereignty. The three NatWest bankers are among the first (and doubtless not the last) victims of this outrageous piece of legislation.
9. anonymous
I hope that McKinnon gets the full weight of the law thrown at him in the USA and that British Politicians wake up to the dangers and sytop trying to buy publicity by supporting irresponsible individuals who think they are being ultra smart. Inevitably an air traffic control system will be hacked with disasterous results either commercial or human life bearing the costs.