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| − | {{for|the South African cricketer|Gary McKinnon (cricketer)}}
| + | <i>This is a shortened import from the Wikipedia article as it appeared 13 April 2021.</i> |
| − | {{short description|British suspected hacker}} | + | {{person |
| − | {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
| + | |wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_McKinnon |
| − | {{pp-semi-blp|small=yes}}
| + | |birth_year=10 February 1966 |
| − | {{Infobox person
| + | |image=Gary McKinnon.jpg |
| − | |name = Gary McKinnon
| + | |alma_mater= |
| − | |image = Gary McKinnon.jpg | + | |nationality=British |
| − | |image_size = 200px | + | |imdb=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8801080/ |
| − | |caption = Gary McKinnon, 12 July 2006
| + | |amazon= |
| − | |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1966|2|10}}
| + | |alchetron= |
| − | |birth_place = [[Glasgow]], Scotland
| + | |infogalactic=https://infogalactic.com/info/Gary_McKinnon |
| − | |death_date =
| + | |website= |
| − | |death_place =
| + | |interests=UFO, free energy |
| − | |known_for = [[Hacker (computer security)|Computer hacking]]
| + | |constitutes=sys-admin, hacker |
| − | |occupation =
| + | |description= |
| − | |citizenship = United Kingdom
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| − | |nationality = [[British nationality law|British]] | |
| − | |religion = | |
| − | |other_names = Solo | |
| − | |residence = | |
| − | |parents = | |
| − | |education = | |
| − | |alma_mater = | |
| − | |criminal charge = | |
| − | |criminal penalty = | |
| − | |criminal status =
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| | }} | | }} |
| − | '''Gary McKinnon''' (born 10 February 1966) is a [[Scottish people|Scottish]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.scotsman.com/news/Wikileaks-US-39no-deal39-to.6645530.jp|title=Wikileaks: US 'no deal' to Gordon Brown's plea to keep Scots hacker in UK|last=Maddox|first=David|date=1 December 2010|work=The Scotsman|access-date=1 December 2010|location=Edinburgh}}</ref> [[system administrator|systems administrator]] and [[hacker (computer security)|hacker]] who was accused in 2002 of perpetrating the "biggest military computer [[Hacker (computer security)|hack]] of all time,"<ref name="bbcprofile">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4715612.stm |title=Profile: Gary McKinnon |work=BBC News |date=30 July 2008 |first=Clark |last=Boyd |access-date=15 November 2008 }}</ref> although McKinnon himself states that he was merely looking for evidence of [[free energy suppression]] and a [[cover-up]] of [[UFO]] activity and other technologies potentially useful to the public. On 16 October 2012, after a series of legal proceedings in Britain, [[Home Secretary]] [[Theresa May]] blocked [[extradition]] to the United States. | + | '''Gary McKinnon''' is a Scottish systems administrator and [[hacker]] who was accused in 2002 of perpetrating the "biggest military computer hack of all time,"<ref>http://news.scotsman.com/news/Wikileaks-US-39no-deal39-to.6645530.jp</ref><ref name="bbcprofile">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4715612.stm</ref> although McKinnon himself states that he was merely looking for evidence of [[free energy]] suppression and a [[cover-up]] of [[UFO]] activity and other technologies potentially useful to the public. On 16 October 2012, after a series of legal proceedings in Britain, [[Home Secretary]] [[Theresa May]] blocked extradition to the United States. |
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| | == Alleged crime == | | == Alleged crime == |
| − | McKinnon was accused of [[hacker (computer security)|hacking]] into 97 United States military and [[NASA]] computers over a 13-month period between February 2001 and March 2002, at the house of his girlfriend's aunt in London,<ref name="Tel profile">{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4320901/Gary-McKinnon-profile-Autistic-hacker-who-started-writing-computer-programs-at-14.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | title=Gary McKinnon profile: Autistic 'hacker' who started writing computer programs at 14 | date=23 January 2009}}</ref> using the name 'Solo'.<ref name="bbcprofile"/> | + | McKinnon was accused of [[hacking]] into 97 [[United States military]] and [[NASA]] computers over a 13-month period between February [[2001]] and March 2002, at the house of his girlfriend's aunt in London,<ref name="Tel profile">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4320901/Gary-McKinnon-profile-Autistic-hacker-who-started-writing-computer-programs-at-14</ref> using the name 'Solo'.<ref name="bbcprofile"/> |
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| − | US authorities stated he deleted critical files from operating systems, which shut down the United States Army's Military District of Washington network of 2000 computers for 24 hours. McKinnon also posted a notice on the military's website: "Your security is crap". After the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, he allegedly deleted weapons logs at the [[Earle Naval Weapons Station]], rendering its network of 300 computers inoperable and paralyzing [[munitions]] supply deliveries for the [[United States Navy|US Navy]]'s Atlantic Fleet. McKinnon was also accused of copying data, account files and passwords onto his own computer. US authorities stated that the cost of tracking and correcting the problems he caused was over $700,000.<ref name="publications1">{{cite web|author=Law Lords Department|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldjudgmt/jd080730/mckinn-1.htm|title=House of Lords - Mckinnon V Government of The United States of America and Another|publisher=Publications.parliament.uk|date=30 July 2008|quote=15. ... alleged to total over $700,000|access-date=30 January 2010}}</ref> | + | US authorities stated he deleted critical files from operating systems, which shut down the United States Army's Military District of Washington network of 2000 computers for 24 hours. McKinnon also posted a notice on the military's website: "Your security is crap". After the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, he allegedly deleted weapons logs at the [[Earle Naval Weapons Station]], rendering its network of 300 computers inoperable and paralyzing munitions supply deliveries for the [[United States Navy|US Navy]]'s Atlantic Fleet. McKinnon was also accused of copying data, account files and passwords onto his own computer. US authorities stated that the cost of tracking and correcting the problems he caused was over $700,000.<ref name="publications1">https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldjudgmt/jd080730/mckinn-1.htm</ref> |
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| | While not admitting that it constituted evidence of destruction, McKinnon did admit leaving a threat on one computer: | | While not admitting that it constituted evidence of destruction, McKinnon did admit leaving a threat on one computer: |
| − | {{quote|US foreign policy is akin to Government-sponsored terrorism these days … It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on September 11 last year{{nbsp}}... I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels{{nbsp}}...<ref>[http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2007/762.html High Court judgment] s. 8</ref>}} | + | {{QB|{{t|"US foreign policy is akin to Government-sponsored terrorism these days … It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on September 11 last year{{nbsp}}... I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels..."<ref>[http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2007/762.html High Court judgment] s. 8</ref>}}}} |
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| − | US authorities stated that McKinnon was trying to downplay his own actions. A senior military officer at the Pentagon told ''The Sunday Telegraph'': {{quote|US policy is to fight these attacks as strongly as possible. As a result of Mr McKinnon's actions, we suffered serious damage. This was not some harmless incident. He did very serious and deliberate damage to military and Nasa computers and left silly and anti-America messages. All the evidence was that someone was staging a very serious attack on US computer systems.<ref>{{cite news|last=Sherwell |first=Philip |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5907994/Hacker-Gary-McKinnon-will-receive-no-pity-insists-US.html |title=Hacker Gary McKinnon will receive no pity, insists US |work=The Telegraph|date=26 July 2009 |access-date=30 January 2010 | location=London}}</ref>}} | + | US authorities stated that McKinnon was trying to downplay his own actions. A senior military officer at the [[Pentagon]] told ''The Sunday Telegraph'': |
| | + | {{QB|{{t|"US policy is to fight these attacks as strongly as possible. As a result of Mr McKinnon's actions, we suffered serious damage. This was not some harmless incident. He did very serious and deliberate damage to military and Nasa computers and left silly and anti-America messages. All the evidence was that someone was staging a very serious attack on US computer systems."<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5907994/Hacker-Gary-McKinnon-will-receive-no-pity-insists-US.html</ref>}}}} |
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| | ==Arrest and legal proceedings== | | ==Arrest and legal proceedings== |
| − | McKinnon was first interviewed by police on 19 March 2002. After this interview, his computer was seized by the authorities.<ref name="timeline">{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/26/gary-mckinnon-extradition-timeline | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=Timeline: Gary McKinnon's fight against extradition to the US | first=David | last=Batty | date=26 November 2009}}</ref> He was interviewed again on 8 August 2002, this time by the UK [[National Hi-Tech Crime Unit]] (NHTCU).<ref name="timeline"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Senior Policeman of the Arresting Hi Tech Crime Unit team describes the prosecution of McKinnon as Spiteful |publisher=The Register |date=10 May 2010 |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/10/mckinnon_support/}}</ref> | + | McKinnon was first interviewed by police on 19 March 2002. After this interview, his computer was seized by the authorities.<ref name="timeline">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/26/gary-mckinnon-extradition-timeline</ref> He was interviewed again on 8 August 2002, this time by the UK National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU).<ref name="timeline"/><ref>https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/10/mckinnon_support/</ref> |
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| − | In November 2002, McKinnon was [[Indictment|indicted]] by a [[federal grand jury]] in the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia|Eastern District of Virginia]].<ref name="indictment">[http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/cyberlaw/usmck1102vaind.pdf U.S. V. Gary McKinnon - text of Indictment] (PDF). FindLaw.com.</ref> The indictment contained seven counts of computer-related crime, each of which carried a potential ten-year jail sentence.<ref name="timeline"/> | + | In November 2002, McKinnon was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.<ref name="indictment">[http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/cyberlaw/usmck1102vaind.pdf U.S. V. Gary McKinnon - text of Indictment] (PDF). FindLaw.com.</ref> The indictment contained seven counts of computer-related crime, each of which carried a potential ten-year jail sentence.<ref name="timeline"/> |
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| | ===Extradition proceedings=== | | ===Extradition proceedings=== |
| − | McKinnon remained at liberty without restriction for three years until June 2005 (until after the UK enacted the [[Extradition Act 2003]], which implemented the 2003 extradition treaty with the United States wherein the United States did not need to provide contestable evidence), when he became subject to [[bail]] conditions including a requirement to sign in at his local police station every evening and to remain at his home address at night. | + | McKinnon remained at liberty without restriction for three years until June [[2005]] (until after the UK enacted the Extradition Act 2003, which implemented the 2003 extradition treaty with the United States wherein the United States did not need to provide contestable evidence), when he became subject to [[bail]] conditions including a requirement to sign in at his local police station every evening and to remain at his home address at night. If extradited to the U.S. and charged, McKinnon would have faced up to 70 years in jail.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7846442.stm</ref> He had also expressed fears that he could be sent to [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantanamo Bay]].<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4712700.stm</ref><ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4905036.stm</ref> |
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| − | If extradited to the U.S. and charged, McKinnon would have faced up to 70 years in jail.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7846442.stm |title=UK | Hacker wins court review decision |work=BBC News |date=23 January 2009 |access-date=30 January 2010}}</ref> He had also expressed fears that he could be sent to [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantanamo Bay]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4712700.stm 'Hacker' extradition case reopens], BBC News, 14 February 2006</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4905036.stm British 'hacker' fears Guantanamo], BBC News, 12 April 2006</ref> | |
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| − | ===Appeal to the House of Lords===
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| − | Representing McKinnon in the House of Lords on 16 June 2008, [[barrister]]s told the [[Judicial functions of the House of Lords|Law Lords]] that the prosecutors had said McKinnon faced a possible 8–10 years in jail per count if he contested the charges (there were seven counts) without any chance of repatriation, but only 37–46 months if he co-operated and went voluntarily to the United States. U.S.-style plea bargains are not a part of English jurisprudence (although it is standard practice to reduce the sentence by one-third for a defendant who pleads guilty)<ref>''McKinnon v Government of the United States of America and another'', section 34</ref> and McKinnon's lawyers contended that in effect this was intimidation to force McKinnon to waive his legal rights. McKinnon also stated that he had been told that he could serve part of his sentence in the UK if he co-operated. He rejected the offer because the Americans would not guarantee these concessions.
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| − | McKinnon's barrister said that the [[Law Lord]]s could deny extradition if there was an [[abuse of process]]: "If the United States wish to use the processes of English courts to secure the extradition of an alleged offender, then they must play by our rules."<ref>{{cite web | last = Thurston | first = Richard | title = NASA hacker appeals to House of Lords to overturn extradition | publisher = SC Magazine | date = 18 June 2008 | url = http://www.scmagazineuk.com/NASA-hacker-appeals-to-House-of-Lords-to-overturn-extradition/article/111408/| access-date = 2 September 2008}}</ref>
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| − | The House of Lords rejected this argument, with the lead judgement (of [[Simon Brown, Baron Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood|Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood]]) holding that "the difference between the American system and our own is not perhaps so stark as [McKinnon]'s argument suggests" and that extradition proceedings should "accommodate legal and cultural differences between the legal systems of the many foreign friendly states with whom the UK has entered into reciprocal extradition arrangements".<ref>{{cite web|author=Law Lords Department |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldjudgmt/jd080730/mckinn-2.htm |title=House of Lords - Mckinnon V Government of The United States of America and Another [2008<nowiki>]</nowiki> UKHL 59|publisher=Publications.parliament.uk |date=30 July 2008 |access-date=30 January 2010}}</ref>
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| − | ===Further appeals===
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| − | McKinnon appealed to the [[European Court of Human Rights]],<ref name="Appeal 2008">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7532713.stm |title=Hacker loses extradition appeal |work=BBC News |date=30 July 2008 |access-date=15 November 2008 }}</ref> which briefly imposed a bar on the extradition,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/mckinnon-case|title=Latest on Gary McKinnon case|date=4 November 2010|publisher=Home Office|access-date=1 December 2010}}</ref> but the request for an appeal was rejected.
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| − | On 23 January 2009, McKinnon won permission from the High Court to apply for a [[Judicial review in English law|judicial review]] against his extradition.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7846442.stm "Hacker wins court review decision"], ''BBC News'', 23 January 2009.</ref> On 31 July 2009, the High Court announced that McKinnon had lost this appeal.<ref>[http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2009/2021.html McKinnon, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Home Affairs] [2009] [[EWHC]] 2021 ([[Administrative Court (England and Wales)|Admin]]) (31 July 2009)</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8177561.stm|title=Hacker loses extradition appeal|work=BBC News|date=31 July 2009|access-date=30 January 2010}}</ref> McKinnon's legal team, solicitor [[Karen Todner]] and barrister Ben Cooper, applied for a judicial review into the Home Secretary's rejection of medical evidence, which stated that, when he could easily be tried in the UK, it was unnecessary, cruel and inhumane to inflict the further stress of removing him from his homeland, his family and his medical support network.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}
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| | ===British government blocks extradition=== | | ===British government blocks extradition=== |
| − | On 16 October 2012, then-[[Home Secretary]] [[Theresa May]] announced to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] that the extradition had been blocked, saying that:<blockquote>Mr McKinnon is accused of serious crimes. But there is also no doubt that he is seriously ill [...] He has [[Asperger's syndrome]], and suffers from [[depressive illness]]. Mr McKinnon's extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr McKinnon's human rights.</blockquote>She stated that the [[Director of Public Prosecutions]] would determine whether McKinnon should face trial before a British court.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-19957138 |title=Gary McKinnon extradition to US blocked by Theresa May |work=BBC News |date=16 October 2012 |access-date=12 February 2017 }}</ref> On 14 December, the DPP, [[Keir Starmer]], announced that McKinnon would not be prosecuted in the United Kingdom, because of the difficulties involved in bringing a case against him when the evidence was in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Maev|title=Gary McKinnon will face no charges in UK|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/14/gary-mckinnon-no-uk-charges|access-date=14 December 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=14 December 2012}}</ref> | + | On 16 October 2012, after a decade of legal proceedings, the then-[[Home Secretary]] [[Theresa May]] announced to the House of Commons that the extradition had been blocked, saying that: |
| − | | + | {{QB|{{t|"Mr McKinnon is accused of serious crimes. But there is also no doubt that he is seriously ill [...] He has Asperger's syndrome, and suffers from depressive illness. Mr McKinnon's extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr McKinnon's human rights."}}}} |
| − | ==Judicial review==
| + | She stated that the Director of Public Prosecutions would determine whether McKinnon should face trial before a British court.<ref>https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-19957138</ref> On 14 December, the DPP, [[Keir Starmer]], announced that McKinnon would not be prosecuted in the United Kingdom, because of the difficulties involved in bringing a case against him when the evidence was in the United States.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/14/gary-mckinnon-no-uk-charges</ref> |
| − | In January 2010, Mr Justice Mitting granted McKinnon a further [[judicial review]] of the decision of [[Home Secretary]] [[Alan Johnson]] to allow McKinnon's extradition. Mitting distinguished two issues which were arguable, the first being whether psychiatrist Jeremy Turk's opinion that McKinnon would certainly commit [[suicide]] if extradited means that the Home Secretary must refuse extradition under section 6 of the [[Human Rights Act 1998]] (which prevents a public authority from acting in a way incompatible with convention rights). The second was whether Turk's opinion was a fundamental change to the circumstances that the courts had previously considered and ruled upon. Mitting ruled that if the answer to both questions was "Yes", then it was arguable that it would be unlawful to allow the extradition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.security.nl/artikel/39229/1/NASA-hacker_McKinnon_kan_VS_toch_vermijden.html |title=NASA-hacker McKinnon kan VS toch vermijden |publisher=Security.NL |access-date=2014-07-17}}</ref>
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| − | ==Support for McKinnon==
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| − | In early November 2008, eighty British [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MPs]] signed an [[Early Day Motion]] calling for any custodial sentence imposed by an American court to be served in a prison in the UK.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7707778.stm|title=MPs want UK jail time for hacker|work=BBC News|access-date=15 November 2008|date=4 November 2008}}</ref> On 15 July 2009, many voted in Parliament against a review of the extradition treaty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmvote/90715v01.htm|title=Votes and Proceedings|website=publications.parliament.uk|access-date=2019-11-21}}</ref>
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| − | In November 2008, the rock group [[Marillion]] announced that it was ready to participate in a benefit concert in support of McKinnon's struggle to avoid extradition to United States. The organiser of the planned event was Ross Hemsworth, an English radio host. No date had been set as of November 2008.<ref>{{cite news|first=Mark|last=Ballard|title=Marillion to play gig for McKinnon|url=http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/11/14/marillion-play-gig-mckinnon|work=[[The inquirer]]|date=14 November 2008|access-date=17 November 2008}}</ref> Many prominent individuals voiced support, including [[Sting (musician)|Sting]], [[Trudie Styler]], [[Julie Christie]], [[David Gilmour]], [[Graham Nash]], [[Peter Gabriel]], [[The Proclaimers]], [[Bob Geldof]], [[Chrissie Hynde]], [[David Cameron]], [[Boris Johnson]], [[Stephen Fry]], and [[Terry Waite]]. All proposed that, at least, he should be tried in the UK.<ref>{{cite news|last=McClatchey|first=Caroline|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8181100.stm|title=How Gary McKinnon became a cause celebre|work=BBC News|date=4 August 2009|access-date=30 January 2010}}</ref>
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| − | In August 2009, Glasgow newspaper ''[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]]'' reported that Scots entrepreneur Luke Heron would pay £100,000 towards McKinnon's legal costs in the event he was extradited to the US.<ref>{{cite news|last=McArdle|first=Helen|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/hacker-backer-pays-100k-to-prevent-mckinnon-us-trial-1.821225|title=Hacker backer pays £100k to prevent McKinnon US trial|work=The Herald|location=Glasgow|date=2 August 2009|access-date=30 January 2010}}</ref>
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| − | In a further article in ''The Herald'', [[Joseph Gutheinz]], Jr., a retired NASA Office of Inspector General Senior Special Agent, voiced his support for McKinnon. Gutheinz, who is also an American criminal defence attorney and former Member of the Texas Criminal Justice Advisory Committee on Offenders with Medical and Mental Impairments, said that he feared Gary McKinnon would not find justice in the US, because "the American judicial system turns a blind eye towards the needs of the mentally ill".{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}
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| − | Web and print media across the UK were critical of the [[extradition]].<ref>{{cite news|title=US mil still wide open to attack, says reformed hacker|publisher=The Register|location=London, UK|date=3 September 2008|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/03/mckinnon_bevan_interview_analysis|access-date=16 November 2015}}</ref>
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| − | Janis Sharp, McKinnon's mother, stood as an independent candidate in the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]] in [[Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)|Blackburn]] in protest against the sitting [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Member of Parliament#United Kingdom|MP]] [[Jack Straw]], who was [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]] when the extradition treaty was agreed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mother of 'hacker' to stand in Blackburn|date=11 April 2010|work=[[Lancashire Telegraph]]|url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/8092573.Mother_of__hacker__to_stand_against_Jack_Straw_in_Blackburn/?action=complain&cid=8453083|access-date=16 November 2015}}</ref> She finished last out of eight candidates with 0.38% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news|title=Parliamentary Elections 2010: Constituencies: Blackburn|work=Lancashire Telegraph|url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/general_election_2010/constituencies/38.blackburn|access-date=16 November 2015}}</ref>
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| − | On 20 July 2010, Tom Bradby, [[ITN]]'s political editor, raised the Gary McKinnon issue with U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] and Prime Minister David Cameron in a joint White House press conference who responded that they had discussed it and were working to find an 'appropriate solution'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.londontv.net/cambama-v1.html|title=Tom Bradby Questions the Prime Minister and the President over Gary McKinnon|publisher=LondonTV.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.londontv.net/cambama-v3.html|title=Tom Bradby (ITN) Asks hard questions of UK Prime Minister David Cameron over Gary McKinnon and the discussions he had with Obama|publisher=LondonTV.net|access-date=16 November 2015}}</ref>
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| − | ===Song===
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| − | In August 2009, [[Pink Floyd]]'s [[David Gilmour]] released an online single, "Chicago - Change the World", on which he sang and played guitar, bass and keyboards, to promote awareness of McKinnon's plight. A re-titled cover of the [[Graham Nash]] song "[[Chicago (1970 song)|Chicago]]", it featured [[Chrissie Hynde]] and [[Bob Geldof]], plus McKinnon himself. It was produced by long-time Pink Floyd collaborator [[Chris Thomas (record producer)|Chris Thomas]] and was made with Nash's support.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.londontv.net/freegarymckinnon.html|title=Chicago - Change the world. Original song by Graham Nash|publisher=LondonTV.net|access-date=4 August 2009}}</ref>
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| | == Statements to the media == | | == Statements to the media == |
| − | McKinnon has admitted in many public statements that he obtained unauthorised access to computer systems in the United States including those mentioned in the United States indictment. He states his motivation, drawn from a statement made before the Washington Press Club on 9 May 2001 by "[[The Disclosure Project]]", was to find evidence of [[UFOs]], [[antigravity]] technology, and the [[free energy suppression|suppression of "free energy"]], all of which he states to have proven through his actions.<ref>[https://www.wired.com/news/technology/internet/0,71182-0.html?tw=rss.technology "UFO Hacker" Tells What He Found], Wired News, 21 June 2006</ref><ref name="BBC Profile">{{cite news | + | McKinnon has admitted in many public statements that he obtained unauthorised access to computer systems in the United States including those mentioned in the United States indictment. He states his motivation, drawn from a statement made before the Washington Press Club on 9 May 2001 by "[[The Disclosure Project]]", was to find evidence of [[UFOs]], antigravity technology, and the suppression of "[[free energy]]", all of which he states to have proven through his actions.<ref>[https://www.wired.com/news/technology/internet/0,71182-0.html?tw=rss.technology "UFO Hacker" Tells What He Found], Wired News, 21 June 2006</ref><ref name="BBC Profile">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19946902</ref> In an interview televised on the [[BBC]]'s ''Click'' [[TV programme]],<ref name="BBC Click">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/4977134.stm</ref> McKinnon stated that he was able to get into the military's networks simply by using a Perl script that searched for blank passwords; in other words, his report suggests that there were computers on these networks with the default passwords active. |
| − | |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19946902
| |
| − | |title=Profile: Gary McKinnon
| |
| − | |date=14 December 2012
| |
| − | |publisher=BBC
| |
| − | |access-date=1 April 2013
| |
| − | }}
| |
| − | </ref> | |
| | | | |
| − | In an interview televised on the [[BBC]]'s ''[[Click (TV programme)|Click]]'' programme,<ref name="BBC Click">{{cite news | + | In his interview with the BBC, he also stated of "The Disclosure Project" that "they are some very credible, relied-upon people, all saying yes, there is UFO technology, there's anti-gravity, there's free energy, and it's extraterrestrial in origin and [they've] captured spacecraft and reverse engineered it." He said he investigated a NASA photographic expert's claim that at the [[Johnson Space Center]]'s Building 8, images were regularly cleaned of evidence of UFO craft, and confirmed this, comparing the raw originals with the "processed" images. He stated to have viewed a detailed image of "something not man-made" and "cigar shaped" floating above the northern hemisphere, and assuming his viewing would be undisrupted owing to the hour, he did not think of capturing the image because he was "bedazzled", and therefore did not think of securing it with the screen capture function in the software at the point when his connection was interrupted.<ref name="click">https://web.archive.org/web/20061024221521/http://bbcworld.com/content/clickonline_archive_18_2006.asp?pageid=665&co_pageid=4</ref> |
| − | |last=Kelly |first=Spencer
| |
| − | |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/4977134.stm
| |
| − | |title=Hacker fears 'UFO cover-up'
| |
| − | |date=5 May 2006
| |
| − | |publisher=BBC
| |
| − | |access-date=1 August 2009
| |
| − | }}
| |
| − | </ref> McKinnon stated that he was able to get into the military's networks simply by using a [[Perl]] script that searched for blank passwords; in other words, his report suggests that there were computers on these networks with the [[default password]]s active. | |
| | | | |
| − | In his interview with the BBC, he also stated of "The Disclosure Project" that "they are some very credible, relied-upon people, all saying yes, there is UFO technology, there's anti-gravity, there's free energy, and it's extraterrestrial in origin and [they've] captured spacecraft and reverse engineered it." He said he investigated a NASA photographic expert's claim that at the [[Johnson Space Center]]'s Building 8, images were regularly cleaned of evidence of UFO craft, and confirmed this, comparing the raw originals with the "processed" images. He stated to have viewed a detailed image of "something not man-made" and "cigar shaped" floating above the northern hemisphere, and assuming his viewing would be undisrupted owing to the hour, he did not think of capturing the image because he was "bedazzled", and therefore did not think of securing it with the screen capture function in the software at the point when his connection was interrupted.<ref name="click">[http://bbcworld.com/content/clickonline_archive_18_2006.asp?pageid=665&co_pageid=4 The NASA Hacker] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061024221521/http://bbcworld.com/content/clickonline_archive_18_2006.asp?pageid=665&co_pageid=4 |date=24 October 2006 }}, BBC Click</ref>
| + | ==Weblinks== |
| | + | * [[FOIA]] request with [[NASA]] for all [http://www.theblackvault.com/documents/ufos/nasa/garydocsnasa.pdf documents pertaining to Gary McKinnon] |
| | | | |
| − | == NASA documents ==
| + | {{PageCredit |
| − | In 2006, a [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] request was filed with [[NASA]] for all documents pertaining to Gary McKinnon. NASA's documents consisted of printed news articles from the [[Slashdot]] site, but no other related documents. This was consistent with NASA employees browsing internet articles about Gary McKinnon; the records of such browsing activity are in the public domain.
| + | |site=Wikipedia |
| − | | + | |date=13 April 2021 |
| − | The FOIA documents have been uploaded to the Internet for review and can be downloaded.<ref>[http://www.theblackvault.com/documents/ufos/nasa/garydocsnasa.pdf NASA FOIA documents related to Gary McKinnon, January 19, 2007] (PDF). theblackvault.com.</ref>
| + | |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_D._Hare |
| − | | |
| − | == Radio play ==
| |
| − | On 12 December 2007, [[BBC Radio 4]] broadcast a 45-minute radio play about the case, ''The McKinnon Extradition'' by John Fletcher.<ref>
| |
| − | {{cite news |title=The McKinnon Extradition|access-date=21 June 2008 |work=BBC Programmes |publisher=BBC |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008g3x2}}</ref> It was re-broadcast on 2 September 2008. It was directed by [[Pete Atkin]] and produced by [[David Morley (writer)|David Morley]]. | |
| − | | |
| − | ==See also==
| |
| − | * [[Rendlesham Forest incident|1980 Rendlesham Forest incident]]
| |
| − | * [[Adrian Lamo]]
| |
| − | * [[Babar Ahmad]]
| |
| − | * [[David Carruthers]]
| |
| − | * [[Peter Dicks]]
| |
| − | * [[Richard O'Dwyer]]
| |
| − | * [[Christopher Tappin]]
| |
| − | * [[Syed Talha Ahsan]]
| |
| − | * [[Lauri Love]]
| |
| − | * [[Julian Assange]]
| |
| − | * [[United Kingdom–United States relations]]
| |
| − | | |
| − | == References ==
| |
| − | {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
| |
| − | | |
| − | == Further reading ==
| |
| − | * {{Cite court
| |
| − | |litigants=McKinnon v Government of the United States of America and another
| |
| − | |court=House of Lords
| |
| − | |date=30 July 2008 | |
| − | |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldjudgmt/jd080730/mckinn-1.htm | |
| | }} | | }} |
| − | * [https://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/profiles/the-autistic-hacker/0 The Autistic Hacker]: Gary McKinnon hacked thousands of government computers by David Kushner, July 2011 [[IEEE Spectrum]]
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==External links==
| |
| − | {{wikiquote}}
| |
| − | *[http://freegary.org.uk "Gary McKinnon now offering Search Engine Optimisation services"]
| |
| − | *[http://www.londontv.net/latestnews.html Support website by Gary McKinnon's mother]
| |
| − | *[http://www.hackervoice.co.uk/show/archive/2007/hackervoiceradio19mar2007.MP3 Hacker Voice Radio interview with McKinnon]
| |
| − | *[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/27/internationalcrime.hacking "The Briton facing 60 years in US prison after hacking into Pentagon"]
| |
| − | *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4715612.stm Profile: Gary McKinnon]
| |
| − | *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6fYMzKvXxg Dan Bull—Free Gary] (an open letter to the Home Secretary)
| |
| − | *[http://www.darknet.org.uk/tag/gary-mckinnon/ Coverage of the Gary McKinnon case since 2006]
| |
| − | *[http://www.snotr.com/video/6250 16min video interview on Snotr]
| |
| | | | |
| − | {{Authority control}} | + | {{SMWDocs}} |
| | | | |
| − | {{DEFAULTSORT:McKinnon, Gary}} | + | ==References== |
| − | [[Category:1966 births]]
| + | {{reflist}} |
| − | [[Category:21st-century Scottish criminals]]
| |
| − | [[Category:Living people]]
| |
| − | [[Category:Cybercrime]]
| |
| − | [[Category:European Court of Human Rights cases involving the United Kingdom]]
| |
| − | [[Category:Hackers]]
| |
| − | [[Category:People from Glasgow]]
| |
| − | [[Category:People with Asperger syndrome]]
| |
| − | [[Category:Free energy conspiracy theorists]]
| |
| − | [[Category:British conspiracy theorists]]
| |
This is a shortened import from the Wikipedia article as it appeared 13 April 2021.
Gary McKinnon is a Scottish systems administrator and hacker who was accused in 2002 of perpetrating the "biggest military computer hack of all time,"[1][2] although McKinnon himself states that he was merely looking for evidence of free energy suppression and a cover-up of UFO activity and other technologies potentially useful to the public. On 16 October 2012, after a series of legal proceedings in Britain, Home Secretary Theresa May blocked extradition to the United States.
Alleged crime
McKinnon was accused of hacking into 97 United States military and NASA computers over a 13-month period between February 2001 and March 2002, at the house of his girlfriend's aunt in London,[3] using the name 'Solo'.[2]
US authorities stated he deleted critical files from operating systems, which shut down the United States Army's Military District of Washington network of 2000 computers for 24 hours. McKinnon also posted a notice on the military's website: "Your security is crap". After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he allegedly deleted weapons logs at the Earle Naval Weapons Station, rendering its network of 300 computers inoperable and paralyzing munitions supply deliveries for the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet. McKinnon was also accused of copying data, account files and passwords onto his own computer. US authorities stated that the cost of tracking and correcting the problems he caused was over $700,000.[4]
While not admitting that it constituted evidence of destruction, McKinnon did admit leaving a threat on one computer:
"US foreign policy is akin to Government-sponsored terrorism these days … It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on September 11 last year ... I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels..."[5]
US authorities stated that McKinnon was trying to downplay his own actions. A senior military officer at the Pentagon told The Sunday Telegraph:
"US policy is to fight these attacks as strongly as possible. As a result of Mr McKinnon's actions, we suffered serious damage. This was not some harmless incident. He did very serious and deliberate damage to military and Nasa computers and left silly and anti-America messages. All the evidence was that someone was staging a very serious attack on US computer systems."[6]
Arrest and legal proceedings
McKinnon was first interviewed by police on 19 March 2002. After this interview, his computer was seized by the authorities.[7] He was interviewed again on 8 August 2002, this time by the UK National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU).[7][8]
In November 2002, McKinnon was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.[9] The indictment contained seven counts of computer-related crime, each of which carried a potential ten-year jail sentence.[7]
McKinnon remained at liberty without restriction for three years until June 2005 (until after the UK enacted the Extradition Act 2003, which implemented the 2003 extradition treaty with the United States wherein the United States did not need to provide contestable evidence), when he became subject to bail conditions including a requirement to sign in at his local police station every evening and to remain at his home address at night. If extradited to the U.S. and charged, McKinnon would have faced up to 70 years in jail.[10] He had also expressed fears that he could be sent to Guantanamo Bay.[11][12]
On 16 October 2012, after a decade of legal proceedings, the then-Home Secretary Theresa May announced to the House of Commons that the extradition had been blocked, saying that:
"Mr McKinnon is accused of serious crimes. But there is also no doubt that he is seriously ill [...] He has Asperger's syndrome, and suffers from depressive illness. Mr McKinnon's extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr McKinnon's human rights."
She stated that the Director of Public Prosecutions would determine whether McKinnon should face trial before a British court.[13] On 14 December, the DPP, Keir Starmer, announced that McKinnon would not be prosecuted in the United Kingdom, because of the difficulties involved in bringing a case against him when the evidence was in the United States.[14]
Statements to the media
McKinnon has admitted in many public statements that he obtained unauthorised access to computer systems in the United States including those mentioned in the United States indictment. He states his motivation, drawn from a statement made before the Washington Press Club on 9 May 2001 by "The Disclosure Project", was to find evidence of UFOs, antigravity technology, and the suppression of "free energy", all of which he states to have proven through his actions.[15][16] In an interview televised on the BBC's Click TV programme,[17] McKinnon stated that he was able to get into the military's networks simply by using a Perl script that searched for blank passwords; in other words, his report suggests that there were computers on these networks with the default passwords active.
In his interview with the BBC, he also stated of "The Disclosure Project" that "they are some very credible, relied-upon people, all saying yes, there is UFO technology, there's anti-gravity, there's free energy, and it's extraterrestrial in origin and [they've] captured spacecraft and reverse engineered it." He said he investigated a NASA photographic expert's claim that at the Johnson Space Center's Building 8, images were regularly cleaned of evidence of UFO craft, and confirmed this, comparing the raw originals with the "processed" images. He stated to have viewed a detailed image of "something not man-made" and "cigar shaped" floating above the northern hemisphere, and assuming his viewing would be undisrupted owing to the hour, he did not think of capturing the image because he was "bedazzled", and therefore did not think of securing it with the screen capture function in the software at the point when his connection was interrupted.[18]
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References
Gary McKinnon 
