'NASA hacker' to face US trial

[mercurial]

Would I be guilty of a crime if I walk down a street and see the front door of a house is slightly open. I nudge it further open, enter the sitting room, admire the beautiful leather coach, then turn around and leave.

The US Military are spending stupendous amounts of money on computer systems and it is this easy to get in? Surely this can't be so?

As for disabling weapons system, I would like to know what these systems are as I'm not aware of any weapon systems that can be "disabled like this. Maybe the controls of Radar systems can be get at, but how would you control aircraft, tanks, artillery over the web.

I think this is another example of the over reaction of Yanks. Or they are just plain pissed off because this guy saw documented prove that more than half of the USA's population still believe in UFOs.

Good point on the first paragraph. As for the other points, I think every government organisation as big as the US military etc spends a lot of money on systems and securing them and I mean who wouldn't be pissed and embarrassed if one guy single-handedly hacked into more of 100 their computers. He shouldn't have hacked it but that's his problem now.

 

[Q121]

Would I be guilty of a crime if I walk down a street and see the front door of a house is slightly open. I nudge it further open, enter the sitting room, admire the beautiful leather coach, then turn around and leave.

Depends whats happening on the couch i guess eh , i am sure there is some peeping tom law out there haha

 

[jab2]

Depends whats happening on the couch i guess eh , i am sure there is some peeping tom law out there haha

 

[Ekhaatvensters]

Would I be guilty of a crime if I walk down a street and see the front door of a house is slightly open. I nudge it further open, enter the sitting room, admire the beautiful leather coach, then turn around and leave.

You'd be tresspassing wouldn't you? It's not meant to be okay for anyone to walk into people's houses if they leave their doors slightly open.

Anyway we don't need metaphors, everyone knows hacking is illegal and so did he.

 

[PeterCH]

He's going to Gitmo.

 

[kronoSX]

hacker might get 70 years in jail

After a long fight,he will mrX will be extradited to the usa to face charges of hacking use goverment servers.
I forgot his name but will google and edit this strange post of mine.

here is thearticle

 

[gregmcc]

he was just looking for proof of ufo's. If a ufo seeker can break into the gov't imagine what bin ladens cronies can do. If I was in the american gov't I'd hire the guy pronto!

Their security leaves a lot to be desired!

 

[MyDraadloos]

His reward was just getting this information. The definition of reward varies from person to person

Yeah, I think he was obsessed with aliens

He will be some illegal alien's boyfriend when he gets to jail, that should cure him of his alien obsession.

 

[jab2]

You'd be tresspassing wouldn't you? It's not meant to be okay for anyone to walk into people's houses if they leave their doors slightly open.

What is trespassing? I quote an on-line definition.

A person is guilty of criminal trespass if he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a
building or upon real property which is fenced or enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders.

Now I would assume the "real" property could be argued as pertaining also to servers or data on such servers in our electronic age, although such definitions in law is still lagging way behind reality.
But looking at the definition the important part here is "fenced or enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders". How would one know you are trespassing if the signs of privacy is so obscure as to be virtually absent?

In any case, I do agree that hacking is a crime and if you read the transcript of Gary McKinnon's interview with Spencer Kelly BBC's Click presenter, one does come to the conclusion that he was fully aware that he was trespassing. I have an issue however with the poor access control which led this on and the hardarse way the USA and UK is now handling this case, to redirect attention away from a major embarrassing fact, that the US Military (and others like NASA) are totally slapgat in their IT system security with regards there ordinary computer users. But then would it be the IT department or the user's job to make sure there are no open Netbios ports without passwords. BTW, thats the way he got in; open Netbios ports over TCP.

The way that he did it is analog to my open door example and it could just as well have been your child (metaphorically speaking) getting into a system without intent to trespass, leaving you with a **** load of trouble as his parent and guardian.To illustrate, I quote a small part of the transcript curtsy of the BBC site:

Gary McKinnon: Unlike the press would have you believe, it wasn't very clever. I searched for blank passwords, I wrote a tiny Perl script that tied together other people's programs that search for blank passwords, so you could scan 65,000 machines in just over eight minutes.

Spencer Kelly: So you're saying that you found computers which had a high-ranking status, administrator status, which hadn't had their passwords set - they were still set to default?

Gary McKinnon: Yes, precisely.

I have also now found what the alleged disabling of weapons systems was.

Deleting logs from computers at US Naval Weapons Station Earle, one of which was used for monitoring the identity, location, physical condition, staffing and battle readiness of Navy ships, deletion of these files rendering the Base’s entire network of over 300 computers inoperable at a critical time immediately following 11 September 2001

If it is so easy to hamstring the US navy, there are sure a whole bunch of arsehole working for them.

Punishment he should get, but the way the US prosecution is harassing him with statements like "you will be someones girlfriend in jail if you do not sign this extradition order" and the do not want to give him a plea bargain in writing, I find totally unacceptable.

 

[Nocturnity]

This guy's a dumbass. All he needs to do is tell them to go screw themselves. If they don't leave him alone, he'll pass all their secrets on to their enemies.

Imagine he got in to some missile silo controls and launched a few missiles at South Korea. Something like this could set off world war 3.

 

[mercurial]

jab, he knew what he was doing is illegal so there is no obscurity.

 

[Ozymandias]

Good point on the first paragraph. As for the other points, I think every government organisation as big as the US military etc spends a lot of money on systems and securing them and I mean who wouldn't be pissed and embarrassed if one guy single-handedly hacked into more of 100 their computers. He shouldn't have hacked it but that's his problem now.

I think the US should be open-minded about this hacker. Sending him to jail for 70 years does not go to the heart of the problem. Despite half a trillion dollar annual military budget, the US defense systems are seriously vunerable to hacking by real terrorist organisations. Instead of filling the cyber terrorism unit with military personnel with crewcuts and starched uniforms, I would populate it with capable hackers with purple hair.

 

[mercurial]

I think the US should be open-minded about this hacker. Sending him to jail for 70 years does not go to the heart of the problem. Despite half a trillion dollar annual military budget, the US defense systems are seriously vunerable to hacking by real terrorist organisations. Instead of filling the cyber terrorism unit with military personnel with crewcuts and starched uniforms, I would populate it with capable hackers with purple hair.

Lol, I agree.

 

[d0b33]

Regardless of their poor security setup, hacking is illegal. End of story.

True... but what if it can be used for freedom of information purposes?

 

[mercurial]

True... but what if it can be used for freedom of information purposes?

 

[mercurial]

Half a million Americans throw their weight behind computer hacker Gary McKinnon

Half a million Americans throw their weight behind computer hacker Gary McKinnon


A popular U.S. civil liberties group last night dramatically backed the case for computer hacker Gary McKinnon to face justice in the UK.

In a significant breakthrough for the Daily Mail's campaign of behalf of the 43-year-old Asperger's sufferer, the American Civil Liberties Union described his plight as 'tragic'.

In a letter to Foreign Secretary David Miliband, the group - which has more than half a million members - said Mr McKinnon was facing removal to the U.S. under an Extradition Act which is 'lopsided' and 'unfair' to Britain.

The ACLU wants him to face prosecution for hacking into 97 NASA and Pentagon computers - offences committed while he was searching for proof of the existence of alien life - in the UK in the 'interests of justice'. This process would automatically halt extradition.

The intervention came as the Tory justice spokesman attacked the 'crude and clumsy' Extradition Act, and demanded ministers ensure ' justice is done'.

The developments are a huge boost to Mr McKinnon, who experts have warned could commit suicide if his extradition to the U.S. is not halted by Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

Supporters pointed out that even huge numbers of Americans did not want the hacker to be punished in the U.S. for crimes which were committed on British soil, from the bedroom of his North London flat.

In the letter, ACLU executive director Anthony Romero told Mr Miliband the 'unfair lopsided aspect' of the treaty meant that while Americans could only be extradited to the UK if 'probable cause' had been established, there was no equivalent provision for Britons facing extradition to the U.S.

The letter was released as UK civil rights group Liberty delivered a hamper to new U.S. ambassador Louis Susman containing letters from the ACLU and Liberty, as well as 'Don't let Gary go' paper planes.

Last night Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti said: 'The intervention of Liberty's sister, the American Civil Liberties Union, proves that Britain's Extradition Act is an international embarrassment.

'Vulnerable people like Gary McKinnon can be bundled off to other countries when they ought to be dealt with at home.

'If Parliament doesn't amend Britain's rotten Extradition Act to put discretion and common sense back into the system, other vulnerable sons and daughters are bound to suffer.'

Dominic Grieve QC, the Tory justice spokesman, said: 'The Gary McKinnon case throws into sharp relief the crude and clumsy extradition procedures Britain now has in place.

'The Extradition Act was introduced after 9/11, so that we could fast-track terrorist suspects to face trial abroad. The intention was reasonable. But it was never intended to operate in cases like this, diluting the safeguards protecting such a vulnerable man - and a British citizen at that.

'Ministers must make every effort to see justice done for Gary McKinnon.'

Last month, two High Court judges ruled that they could not stop the Government from sending Mr McKinnon to the U.S. But they said that if he is extradited 'his mental health will suffer and there are risks of worse, including suicide'.

Crucially, the judges also said the hacker could be prosecuted in London.

Mr Johnson insists he does not have the power to halt the extradition.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'The Government is satisfied that our extradition relations with the U.S. are balanced, fair and working well.'

Source

 

[McGuywer]

Ridiculous.
The UK caves to US pressure again.
This guy hacked into the US military with a modem, and was able to access data without a single password or other protection.
So who's the guilty party ?

Yip and they are the greatest nation on earth, they should stand up for themselves!

I remeber this guy in an interview with FHM a few months or a year ago.
His in really over his head!
The prosecutors want to make an example of him!
He managed to hack into the Pentagon and view files of Generals and other groot koppe!
Simply because they never had any password setup - or the password - was "password".
That's how simple it was it for him!
He reckons why there was no password was because the Generals are fossils from the old school right? So they're not the most tech savvy people and could not even setup their own passwords.
He saw got to see a lot of intersting info - shame that his gonna pay big time for it!

Now that just doesn't make sense...

I would have thought that all Pentagon computers are on a network which would require secure log-in as set by an administrator. If they are so connected and he was able to enter as described, then he should be paid $10 million for discovering the weakness and the administrator be sent to jail for 10 years.
Additionally the internal/external auditors should be sued by either the pentagon or this guy if he's prosecuted - security is part of their brief.

Agreed!

So then, is it hacking if you stumble upon a network that can be accessed without a password? Pretty much the same as going into an FTP share on the web and downloading files....

There was passwords....

The people of Iraq cry with joy....
But seriously, what has this guy gained from all of this? Its not like he has made any money out of it... has he?
Other than that he can say he has seen all of Americas dirty little secrets....

Imagine if they hired this oke, they could have done more damage!