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'UK Hackers' Condemn McKinnon?
Posted by
Zonk
on Tue May 09, 2006 10:21 AM
from the got-what-he-deserved dept.
from the got-what-he-deserved dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Whitedust has some interesting commentary on this BBC article which claims that 'UK hackers' have condemned Gary Mckinnon's trial. From the article: 'Another example of some truly awful and misinformed mainstream tech reporting here. The article claims that UK hackers are almost all in support of Mr Mckinnon when in truth as we all know the entire tech community has agreed that Mr Mckinnon is not only an idiot but a deluded attention seeker.'"
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Your Rights Online: UK Hacker loses Extradition Case 370 comments
SnakeOil Steve writes to tell us that Gary McKinnon, the alleged hacker who broke into Army, Air Force, Navy, and NASA systems, has just lost his extradition case. From the article: "'My intention was never to disrupt security. The fact that I logged on and there were no passwords means that there was no security,' McKinnon said, outside the hearing at London's Bow Street Magistrates Court. 'I was looking for UFOs.'"
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Politics: UK Gives Go-Ahead to Gary McKinnon Extradition 309 comments
robzster1977 writes "Judges in the UK have given the go-ahead to the extradition of UK hacker Gary McKinnon. McKinnon is accused of breaking into US Navy, Army and Department of Defense computers in 2001 and 2002." From the article: "On 4 July the secretary of state signed an order for Mr McKinnon's extradition to the United States for charges connected with computer hacking. 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."
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Much Ado About Nothing (Score:5, Insightful)
Agreed, Gary is an idiot. His moonbat UFO-tech stories notwithstanding, anyone who breaks into systems by exploiting blank administrator passwords really isn't much of a 'hacker', and anyone who says they managed to get a UFO picture, but didn't save a screen dump is either a moron or a liar.
All that said, 70 years? Incarcerating Gary for what amounts to a life sentence for his harmless sightseeing is more than too harsh...it makes him a martyr to hackerdom...a martyr that actual hackers would much rather not be associated with.
Instead, how about some action against the clueless sysadmins who left vital Army, Navy, Air Force, and DoD systems vulnerable to such a sophomoric and elementary 'attack' by not passwording administrator-level accounts? If I ever failed to protect my network against such an intrusion, I'd be cleaning out my desk at the end of the day.
Mark deserves to be punished, but extradition to the U.S., 70 years in prison, and millions of dollars in fines is just plain overboard. The U.S. would much better serve its interests by studiously ignoring Gary and letting the UK authorities deal with him.
Of course, if the U.S. is just looking for another 'terrorist' to keep the public's fear level at fever pitch, I suppose the uber-hacker Gary McKinnon will do nicely.
Re:Much Ado About Nothing (Score:2)
That 70 years figure seems, at least to me, to be a little higher then what he'd actually get, I think. Quoting such a figure might just be to get him to cop a plea, for a lower sentence, thus saving the expense of a trial, and freeing up the dock for more important cases.
However, considering his previous behavior, he'll probably plead not-guilty, and insist on defending himself, rather then hiring an attorney, or using a court assigned one.
Re:Much Ado About Nothing (Score:4, Insightful)
Why do you stop there? This what is fishy to me - that he is looking at a horrendously disproportionate sentence in relation to his crimes. It only remains to be effectively discussed as to why he is looking at such a stupid sentence.
It's so easy to rattle off some dismissive diatribe on
Parent
Re:Much Ado About Nothing (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Much Ado About Nothing (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Much Ado About Nothing (Score:2)
Not harmless, given the cost of ensuring that a compromised system is free of root kits, logic bombs, sniffers, key loggers, defacements, deletions, and subtle but interesting edits to documents(*). Add the cost of handling it to preserve evidence plus analyzing and tracing the attack. If these had been commercial instead of government systems you'd also need to add the cost of downtime.
(*) Yes, yes, of course I know. But if the system's been infected long enough then the backups are
Re:Much Ado About Nothing (Score:2)
It is indeed a lot more expensive then setting a real password for the administrator accounts, yeah..
What Garry did was in
What?! (Score:5, Insightful)
That really makes you think about how long someone who really has hostile intents could stay undetected.
Re:What?! (Score:3, Interesting)
Answer: Pretty much as long as they wanted to.
Remember all those Mission: Impossible episodes (the "good" T.V. ones, not the "so-so" Cruise-missiles they've been releasing the last few years...)? You remember how at the end their "target" always had that "wtf just happened?!?!" look on his face? Same story, different era (and the tape may or may not self-destruct in five seconds...)
Jurisdiction troubles again. (Score:4, Insightful)
Perhaps whitedust should consider that the hacking community can think Mr Mckinnon is "not only an idiot but a deluded attention seeker," but at the same time also support Mr Mckinnon as he is being extradited to the US for committing a crime in Britain.
Would US hackers support the extradition of another hacker being extradited to France for hacking a french military network? I suspect not - no matter how stupid & obnoxious the hacker's behaviour was.
Re:Jurisdiction troubles again. (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Jurisdiction troubles again. (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, so that criminal who commit a crime in a country, then flee to another country can be returned to the country they committed the crime in.
And he didnt commit his crime in britian, he commited it in Britian AND the United States.
No he was in Britain when the crime was committed. The crime occurred in both countries. Perhaps I did not sufficiently distinguish between the subject & object of my original sentence.
That is the downfall of technology. All this
Re:Jurisdiction troubles again. (Score:3, Insightful)
Negative. Jurisdictions do not overlap. If the same crime was comitted in two jurisdictions, then you open the way for double jeopardy extraordinare.
McKinnon was in the UK as he knowingly broke US law, just as say, USians are in say, the US, as they knowingly break Saudi law when they critisise the House of Saud.
Here's the bottom line in this paticular case. US considers itself the priemiere country in the world. US law
Re:Jurisdiction troubles again. (Score:2)
Re:Jurisdiction troubles again. (Score:4, Insightful)
He broke into a computer in the US. So what the crime committed in the US or Britain? Having "Hackers" come to your defence is a little like the mob coming to your defence. I really hate that use of the term Hacker. I still think of Hackers as being good programmers and not script kiddies.
That being said I see no real reason for him to serve 70+years. I do think that he should go on trial here in the US but he should get a suspended sentence and possibly some medical help. I really doubt they will throw the book at this poor soul.
Parent
Re:Jurisdiction troubles again. (Score:3, Insightful)
Better still, I publish my non DMCA compliant workarounds on my website in Elosia (which also has DMCA madness), US citizens can access it, does that mean that the US can extradite me when the Elosian court system has had it's fill with me?
Re:Jurisdiction troubles again. (Score:2)
Not quite the same thing.
How about this. You stand in Northern Ireland and you shoot and kill someone in Ireland?
You action was made in the UK but the crime happened in Ireland.
Or you embezzle 80 million euros from a bank in France from you system in the UK?
His actions where a crime in both countries, the countr
Re:Jurisdiction troubles again. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Jurisdiction troubles again. (Score:5, Insightful)
http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/60523-print.s
Apparently the Scots don't like the terms of the 'new' treaty. Kudos to them.
Here's the meat of the articleEmphasis mine.
What were the Brits thinking to agree to such a treaty? Their Gov't failed in its fundamental duty to protect its citizens & provide due process.
Parent
Re:Jurisdiction troubles again. (Score:2)
I don't know that I qualify for any given definition of "hacker", but I would have no issues with extradition in that case.
Well (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Well (Score:2)
Mod parent up.
Larry David type (Score:3)
This guy gets the same kind of attention when someone names their baby Google.
Yeah, and I've said the opposite (Score:2)
Rebuttal to whining (Score:2)
Re:Rebuttal to whining (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Like Dmitry Sklyarov? (Score:4, Insightful)
I for one would rather not be dragged off to the US to be judged and condenmed for excercising my rights in my home nation. Over here, people can drink after they're 18. Should they be dragged off for infringements of the oh so higher and purer US statutes on alcohol consumption?
You might consider that trollish, but it just amazes me how arrogant some americans can be in their attitudes towards other countries and their judicial systems, paticularly in these days of Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay. Your country is not exactly a shining example of enlighted jurisprudence.
Parent
Re:Rebuttal to whining (Score:2)
Howeever, McKinnon said in the BBC article that he just used a simple script to test blank and common passwords on a series of IPs and host names. Even I could do that, and since it succeeded that's not saying much about US military and government security practices.
Idiot (Score:5, Informative)
The only stupid generalisations are in Whitedust's articles.
And you thought hackers already had a bad name? (Score:3, Insightful)
From the original Whitedust article on McKinnon [whitedust.net]: Free Gary? Please God Don't.
It would seem Gary "Uber Hacker" McKinnon is not so "Uber" after all. After reading his interview on Spy.org.uk it has come to our attention that his technical knowledge and indeed, mental state, is not all that it should be.
I seem to remember that he was afraid they were going to ship him to Guantanamo Bay [slashdot.org]. But perhaps he'd be better off in a Starfleet detention cell, or maybe aboard the Death Star. The guy is a certifiable kook; the only thing he has to fear is a fair trial where he gets on the stand, rants about the hidden UFO technology (which is doing a wonderful job for us in Iraq among other places) we possess, and the jury figures out that he is a kook and send him away.
Much as I tend to think of hackers as low-lifes for the most part, those that use their abilities indescriminately anyway, I don't think even they should be subjected to this guy's company.
Re:And you thought hackers already had a bad name? (Score:3, Insightful)
I must admit that I to found it strange that he didn't take a screenshot and that he was caught after two years just as he found the information he was looking for. I also found it strange that the day after I heard about this on "Click", there was a news release of, "UFO study finds no si
More info (Score:2, Informative)
Harsh punishment for what exactly? (Score:3, Insightful)
Kevin Mitnick did similar things and they went after him too. From Kevin's [wikipedia.org] Wiki entry: "Littman made allegations of journalistic impropriety against Markoff, of overzealous prosecution of Mitnick by the government, of mainstream media over-hyping of Mitnick's actual crimes, and of the legality of Shimomura's involvement in the matter."
So what did McKinnon actually do? Is his harsh sentence for changing/using/leaking/stealing information or just because he embarrassed the Government in the 'post-911' world?
Re:Harsh punishment for what exactly? (Score:2)
Depends on who you ask.
Either he harmlessly hacked into a bunch of gov/mil computer systems, doing them a favor by ponting out how weak their security is.
-or-
He hacked into gov/mil computer systems resulting in the shut down of some systems and $millions lost in the ensuing panic and investigations.
Take your pick.
In related news: Humans committed murders. (Score:2)
What we must remember, is that when an article says "People from this or that group", they don't mean ALL the group.
The BBC article doesn't say "ALL UK Hackers support McKinnon". They just say "UK Hackers", as in "SOME UK Hackers".
I read that BBC article, and I agree with them on everything. McKinnon isn't judged because he's a moron, he's judged because he exposed that the most powerful nation in the world has the weakest information security in the world - and the US wants to punish
Re:In related news: Humans committed murders. (Score:2)
I doubt if it had been "UK cabdrivers," "UK insurance adjusters," "UK left-handed people," or "UK women named Susan" referenced it would be immune from such criticism by people who fit the description yet feel differently than portrayed.
Re:In related news: Humans committed murders. (Score:2)
So, let me get this straight. You lecture people about making sweeping generalizations, and then make a completely baseless, ridiculous statement about how X is the most Y in the world. Do you really think that, say, Uganda or Croatia has a better overall level of IT expertise and
Harmless Nutter != Terrorist (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm sorry but you can sod right off.
I'm both a member of the "tech community" and a "UK hacker" and I certainly do not consider him either an idiot or an attention seeker.
Clearly the guy has some pretty outlandish views. But apart from that his only crime was proving how incredibly poor federal computer security is in the US even long after their biggest ever a
Re:Harmless Nutter != Terrorist (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually a better analogy would be trying the closed door and discovering it was unlocked - then walking inside instead of raising the alarm.
It's still trespassing, and still a crime. How easy they make it for you doesn't really matter for the purposes of the trial.
I'm sure you'd ask the court to release someone who wandered into your house, read your personal information but didn't take any of it, right?
Mark
Parent
Re:Harmless Nutter != Terrorist (Score:2)
Perhaps not, but I wouldn't expect to be able to extradite him from overseas, and I wouldn't expect him to face many years in prison.
Re:Harmless Nutter != Terrorist (Score:2)
Perhaps not, but I wouldn't expect to be able to extradite him from overseas, and I wouldn't expect him to face many years in prison.
Not even if the normal punishment for that crime in your country was many years in prison, which was considered reasonable? And if he'd accessed your house not in person but by using a futuristic remote-controlled droid? And if the i
Re:Harmless Nutter != Terrorist (Score:3, Interesting)
He failed to report them, and he continued to access them.
Fair enough. He's nicked. It's a fair cop etc.
I have no problem with him being fairly prosecuted. If you read my post aga
Re:Harmless Nutter != Terrorist (Score:2)
Re:Harmless Nutter != Terrorist (Score:2)
Hooray for flawed analogies. The door was not wide open. Secured with a lock that can be opened with any key commonly found in a child's plastic handcuff kit sure, but still
Re:Harmless Nutter != Terrorist (Score:2)
True.
But how do you know he's only a "Harmless Nutter"? Because that's the way he's been presented?
And how does anyone know "!= a Terrorist" until the purpetrator is found and after an extensive investigation?
His actions are still costing money and causing problems for the US and UK alike. "Harmless"???
Re:Harmless Nutter != Terrorist (Score:2)
so1o has some crazy ideas, but he's not an idiot. Just because he broke into some poorly secured computers does not mean he isn't a hacker. It doesn't mean he is not capable of breaking into well-secured boxes. I wouldn't want to be extradited to the US either. I don't trust the US Gov't *at all.* The time they are seeking is ridiculous. 70 yrs is insane. Either so1o did some things that aren't mentioned, or they are trying to make an example of him. If they are trying t
I can imagine why it's happening (Score:4, Funny)
Bush: "Damm it! Where did they get the technology to break our secret codes?"
Security Advisor: "Actually, we left the systems wide open. Our IT specialists are too lazy to set passwords"
Bush: "So how do we stop these sly foreign devils?"
Security Advisor: "Lets just grab one and stick him in jail for life. No one at home will care. It might put the rest off"
Bush: "Or we could train our guys to use password?"
Security Advisor: "You'r talking nonsense again, sir"
Sense (Score:4, Insightful)
Now if the US does treat him fairly eveyone is gonna yell that they are just trying to save face. You have condemned the US not on its actions, but on your own supposition. Judge the US by what it does (meaning, wait till he's sentenced to bitch about his horrible sentence). In all of my history as a US citizen, I have seen enough to beleive that the courts here are legit and fair. They are not perfect, but surely no one assumes that GB has perfect courts.
One more thing: I assure you that I (along with almost all of the rest of the country) would support the reverse case. If someone hacked GB's computers, I would expect them to be sent there for trial.
Re:Sense (Score:3, Insightful)
We have an extradite treaty with the United States of America. We've signed it, ratified, enshrined it in law and everything.
You didn't.
Tomorrow morning, a hacker in Florida, or New York or anywhere in th
Re:Sense (Score:3, Insightful)
Your legal system is more than imperfect, it's an international disgrace - what joke of a legal system is simply ignored by politicians when convenient for them to do so? Answer: Americas. There are plenty of examples elsewhere in this thread.