UK rules out charges against accused Pentagon hacker
By Michael Holden in London, Reuters, February 27, 2009 09:25am
Computer expert ... accused hacker Gary McKinnon outside the High Court in London last month / Reuters
BRITISH authorities have said they will not bring charges against a computer expert accused of the "biggest military hack of all time", dealing a blow to his bid to avoid extradition.
Gary McKinnon was arrested by British police in 2002 after US prosecutors charged him with illegally accessing computers, including the Pentagon, US army, navy and NASA systems, and causing $US700,000 ($1.08 million) worth of damage.
A British court ruled in 2006 that he should be extradited to the US to face trial. If convicted by a US court, he could face up to 70 years in prison.
Mr McKinnon has been battling the extradition decision ever since.
His lawyers asked Britain's Director of Public Prosecutions to consider a request to prosecute him in Britain where they believe he would receive a shorter sentence.
But the Crown Prosecution Service said a review had concluded it would be wrong for him to face trial at home.
These were not random experiments in computer hacking, but a deliberate effort to breach US defence systems at a critical time which caused well documented damage," said Alison Saunders, head of the prosecution's Organised Crime Division.
"They may have been conducted from Mr McKinnon's home computer – and in that sense there is a UK link – but the target and the damage were transatlantic."
Military networks
Mr McKinnon is accused of causing the entire US Army's Military District of Washington network of more than 2000 computers to be shut down for 24 hours.
He has told reporters he was just a computer nerd who wanted to find out whether aliens really existed and became obsessed with trawling large military networks for proof.
At the time of his indictment, Paul McNulty, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said: "Mr McKinnon is charged with the biggest military computer hack of all time."
The decision not to charge Mr McKinnon in Britain does not spell the end of his legal battle.
Last month, London's High Court ruled Mr McKinnon, who has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, could seek a judicial review of the government's decision to extradite him.
His lawyers argue his health would suffer and he would be at real risk of suicide if he was handed over to US authorities.
"Mr McKinnon will still remain in the UK as the judicial review proceedings... remain outstanding and we are hopeful that those proceedings will be successful," his lawyer Kaim Todner said.
Source
By Michael Holden in London, Reuters, February 27, 2009 09:25am
Computer expert ... accused hacker Gary McKinnon outside the High Court in London last month / Reuters
BRITISH authorities have said they will not bring charges against a computer expert accused of the "biggest military hack of all time", dealing a blow to his bid to avoid extradition.
Gary McKinnon was arrested by British police in 2002 after US prosecutors charged him with illegally accessing computers, including the Pentagon, US army, navy and NASA systems, and causing $US700,000 ($1.08 million) worth of damage.
A British court ruled in 2006 that he should be extradited to the US to face trial. If convicted by a US court, he could face up to 70 years in prison.
Mr McKinnon has been battling the extradition decision ever since.
His lawyers asked Britain's Director of Public Prosecutions to consider a request to prosecute him in Britain where they believe he would receive a shorter sentence.
But the Crown Prosecution Service said a review had concluded it would be wrong for him to face trial at home.
These were not random experiments in computer hacking, but a deliberate effort to breach US defence systems at a critical time which caused well documented damage," said Alison Saunders, head of the prosecution's Organised Crime Division.
"They may have been conducted from Mr McKinnon's home computer – and in that sense there is a UK link – but the target and the damage were transatlantic."
Military networks
Mr McKinnon is accused of causing the entire US Army's Military District of Washington network of more than 2000 computers to be shut down for 24 hours.
He has told reporters he was just a computer nerd who wanted to find out whether aliens really existed and became obsessed with trawling large military networks for proof.
At the time of his indictment, Paul McNulty, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said: "Mr McKinnon is charged with the biggest military computer hack of all time."
The decision not to charge Mr McKinnon in Britain does not spell the end of his legal battle.
Last month, London's High Court ruled Mr McKinnon, who has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, could seek a judicial review of the government's decision to extradite him.
His lawyers argue his health would suffer and he would be at real risk of suicide if he was handed over to US authorities.
"Mr McKinnon will still remain in the UK as the judicial review proceedings... remain outstanding and we are hopeful that those proceedings will be successful," his lawyer Kaim Todner said.
Source
Moko pora maattu unaane. Maatu nowena widihata Pentagon hack karapu kee denek innawada 
