World's biggest hacker held

[emad]

By Rob Singh, Evening Standard
8 June 2005

A London man described as the "world's biggest computer hacker" has been arrested.

Gary McKinnon, 39, was seized by the Met's extradition unit at his Wood Green home.

The unemployed former computer engineer is accused of causing the US government $1billion of damage by breaking into its most secure computers at the Pentagon and Nasa. He is likely to be extradited to America to face eight counts of computer crime in 14 states and could be jailed for 70 years.

-----------------------------

Most of the alleged hacking took place in 2001 and 2002. At one stage the US thought it was the work of the al Qaeda terror network.

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/19164714?source=Evening%20Standard

[emad]

1. UFO connection

SNIP:
Friends said that he broke into the networks from his home computer to try to prove his theory that the US was covering up the existence of UFOs.

&:

Andrew Edwards, who has known McKinnon since their days together at Highgate Wood comprehensive, said in 2002: "Gary told me all he was doing was looking for proof of a cover-up over UFOs.

"He's been interested in UFOs for some time and believes the Americans are holding back information - although he didn't find any proof."

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/19164714?source=Evening%20Standard

[Mizmoon]

2. I love that he was doing it to prove aliens exist

I wish he had found it to be true ...

[Redstone]

3. I hope he goes to jail for a long, long time.

Hackers and spammers are the worst kind of scum there is, except of course child molestors, wife-beaters, bushcoers, and Freepers.

I guess all of the above are pretty much on the same level, now that I think of it.

Redstone

[malmapus]

4. Wow, I wouldn't go as far as to group all those together

I guess I may come from a different time, but these lately come by "hackers" are pretty destructive immature little jerk wads. Mostly just punk teens who download a program and call themselves a hacker.

I see true hacking as serving its purpose, how else can one find loop holes in their network, or show Microsoft how its software sucks and has so many secuurity risks yet they still release the shit.

Iunno, back in my day my friends would write programs that would help others who wouldn't otherwise be able to use the internet, the whole information and the internet should be free for all to use, for a while there we were a major thorn in some ISPs side who charged insane hourly rates.

[Redstone]

13. Uh, not to be argumentative, but the fact that you and your friends

thought that "the whole information and the internet should be free for all to use" is pretty offensive to me, because you're using the phrase to try to justify activity that was actually nothing more than theft of service. It's just exactly like hooking up your house directly to the electric wires on the pole in order to bypass your electric meter.

Do you think that the ISPs had no overhead, and got their servers, electricity, and staff for free?

Did you ever stop to consider that a portion of the "insane rates" that they charged went to pay people's salaries? How owuld you have liked it if you worked at an ISP, and lost your job because they had to close down because of their services being used with them being paid for it?

Sorry, but it really bothers me when people use political or societal theories in an attempt to excuse stealing other people's property or services. You'd probably feel the same way if you owned a business.

Redstone

[malmapus]

14. Actually I've been in the IT business for years

Since I got out of the military. And yeah back when <insert major ISP but will use AOL as an example> was charging 2.85 and hour I thought that was fucked up. If we knew someone or people who couldn't afford to get online and use the benefits of it, then yeah I don't mind costing AOL money. They weren't just making a profit back then, they were practically highwaymen.

Same deal for sickos on the net, if a friend was getting hit on by some loser sexual predator (and this is my early years when my friends would still be teens) then yeah I justify shutting down said service by way of an attack.

I see hackers in the 3 hats, white, gray or black. I always considered myself more of a gray as I would see to justify attacks in certain situations but only if the person really deserved it (see sicko sexual predator loser above).

But yeah, I hung up my hat years ago anyway and moved on. Now I fight off DDOS attacks on my network, heck at my old job I would get thrills at the latest virus that got released. Took pride in shutting it down and limiting the damage on the network where I worked at.

[Redstone]

16. We won't agree on that one point, but I for one would applaud you

for attacking a "loser sexual predator" with whatever you had.

Or a spammer.

Redstone

[malmapus]

17. Yeah spamemrs were / are in my sites too =)

Except these days, I just get as much info on them as I can and send that to friends who still enjoy that kind of thing and are more on top of it.

[libertypirate]

22. Your not very bright

Keep reading the news and puking it back up....

Hackers are not spammers and defining them together is moronic.

The only hackers that are dangerous are those hired by corporations to spy on the competition. The rest like to climb tall mountains. Hackers are investigators that use their intelect to understand things that they can't see. Hacking is a process of elimination that results in either a positive or negative. It's hard it's difficult and it's not something a two bit criminal is not going to figure out on their own.

I don't see how hacking actually causes damage, maybe if they delete things, or run a mac truck into someones server room; but these systems are backedup. They always give estimate of damage and it's all bullshit, a big steaming pile of crap, because it means nothing. Hackers don't break they exploit and you need the systems to be functioning to do that you can't break them to get in.

[shawn703]

26. I disagree

Most of the so-called hackers that I have to deal with do it by downloading some program off the internet that scans for vulnerable computers, and does all the hard work of exploiting the vulnerability for the "hacker". One example was someone hijacked a company's FTP site and used it to store porn movies. He advertised the address, and then the company's Internet was too slow to be useful because of all the downloads until they called for a fix. This is someone who gained unauthorized access to a system, the person wasn't trying to learn anything except where he could store his movies, the guy certainly was a two-bit criminal since anyone can easily exploit something with an app, and he caused financial damage to the company because of lost productivity.

[libertypirate]

27. Why do you call someone that is stealing bandwidth a hacker?

What did they hack?

What did they figure out...

Does the term now apply to all persons that commit fraud over the Internet?

If someone used your garage to store their shit without permission would you call them a burgler?

Hackers for those that don't know are not the people that are the problem pull your heads out... The people who are the problem want you to look somewhere else.

I bet you don't even know that the guy who invented the PC was a hacker.

[shawn703]

30. Definition of "hacker"

from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

1 : one that hacks
2 : a person who is inexperienced or unskilled at a particular activity <a tennis hacker>
3 : an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer
4 : a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system


I am working with definition 4 here, and I am not sure what definition, if any, you are working with. Possibly some strange interpretation of number 3? I agree definition number 3 hackers are not a problem, since they do not break any laws. Definition number 4 hackers (or crackers, so as not to offend the definition 3 hackers) are a problem, and should be in jail.

To answer your questions:
If someone gains unauthorized access to a computer for any reason, including stealing bandwidth, this is hacking and should result in jail time.

If someone breaks into my garage and stores shit without my permission, they are also breaking the law.

If you must talk down to someone, please know what you are talking about first.

Thanks!

[Protagoras]

5. If he were caught by US forces he'd be the 3rd biggest

hacker...

We're real good at catching the #3 guy.

[neohippie]

33. This guy was no hacker, and he is hardly the BIGGEST

He is just a scriptkiddie. Someone who uses code that they download off of the internet to exploit known vulnerabilities. He is obviously not very good at it because he did all kinds of damage poking around systems and left enough footprints to be caught.

So for anyone to allege that he is the worlds biggest hacker is a joke. He is really a cracker, one who breaks into systems. People like this loser give hackers a bad name. The best hackers in the world would rarely be caught, because they wouldn't leave a trail that would so easily be discovered. This guy was a clown who deleted entire directories on the systems that he fumbled onto and was asking for nothing but trouble.

[emad]

6. More UFO, The Independent:

She also said that one of his motivations had been to try to prove the existence of UFOs.

She said: "His motivation was firstly in relation to that, and secondly in relation to exposing the lack of security in relation to the American system.

"He doesn't deny that something happened. In relation to the specific charges, we need to sit down and work out whether there are offences in relation to his action.


http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/story.jsp?story=645158

[UncleSepp]

7. *imagining a 30 ft tall hacker*

Great headline. "World's Biggest Hacker".

[Roland99]

15. I was picturing some 750lb. nerd cracker.

[UncleSepp]

28. LOL Now I see that too...

...only now it's a 750lb white nerd in a gimme cap.

[TahitiNut]

8. At first glance it was: "World's biggest pecker held"

:evilgrin:

[gordianot]

9. This man is a "cracker" not a "hacker".

Hacker's everywhere would/should object to calling him a hacker.

see link:

Originally, a hacker was someone who made furniture with an axe. In computing slang it is a person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. Also, one who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming.
www.fas.org/news/reference/probert/PA.HTM

A person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in particular. The term is often misused in a pejorative context, where "cracker" would be the correct term.
www.accuport.com/mazingoref/Glossary.htm

[Ravy]

10. Whew! From the headlines I thought someone kidnapped Gates. n/t

[sweetheart]

11. And what crime?

There is danger at using the terrorist extradition laws for trivial
things, and breaking in to some military computers and rearranging the
passwords is hardly a crime. Rather it is the military command of
those computers who should be tossed out on their ears for
incompetence.

This chappie caused no harm, and it is a shameful state of affairs that
the british cowards in the home office are willing to send a british
citizen to an overseas kangaroo court for sitting in his london home
typing on his computer.

It is really outrageous. And next time you're extradited to iran for
breaking heresey laws typing on your computer, you might consider the
real-reciprocity of this sort of disrespect of national sovereignty.

It is a very dangerous precedent this case, one that a labour government
is shamefully involved in.

[pie]

12. I agree. This sets a dangerous precedent.

[Catholic Sensation]

20. i believe causing a billion dollars worth of damage is a crime

This chappie caused no harm, and it is a shameful state of affairs that the british cowards in the home office are willing to send a british citizen to an overseas kangaroo court for sitting in his london home typing on his computer.

except he wasn't "typing on his computer" he was fucking up other people's computers. your statement reeks of ignorance.

[sweetheart]

29. billion my tukus

You're off by 1000... its "a million" if that. Deleted password files
and whatnot are not "damage", they are lost files they should have
on backups anyways. The only damage was pride.

He was not fucking up "other peoples" computers. All the transgrressions
were on .mil... and in all honesty, if you can penetrate a mil
mil computer from your home in another country and you don't start
a war or kill someone, you're a friend. You help develop and mature
security procedures that under a real attack, no critical systems go
down.

The ignorance here, is the abuse of terrorist laws to deport a person
who has not left his fucking living room; who has not incited hatred,
who has done nothing but type on a keyboard!!! This is nonviolence to
the extreme, civil disobedience at most, and certainly is not terrorism
or "the worst hacking EVER" or any of that load of nonsense.

Consider, when you yourself are indicted for writing a statement on the
internet that offends someone in malasia and they apply through
international terrorism statutes to deport you to malaysia for insulting
their religion and causing 100 billion ringit in damages, and you
are deported without a trial, THEN you'll get a load of how ignorant
you're being to support this precedent!

[Nihil]

32. 100% on target there!

I always laugh when the pig-ignorant media tell everyone that a few
keypresses on a home PC has cost millions of pounds. They stay very
quiet when the expensive keypresses are done many times a day inside
the banks, stock exchanges and other gambling houses around the world.
They stay very quiet when a few keypresses on a military PC cost lives.

The sad thing about this is that the pig-ignorant public believe them.

[Vladimir]

34. People ought to bear in mind

that the Brits already investigated this a few years ago, and decided there was nothing there worth persecuting him for although he admitted some of the charges. It reeks of a witchhunt organised for the benefit of the media IMO.

[brooklynite]

18. The problem with this headline...

...is that all the other hackers are going to be anoyed that they weren't picked as the "world's biggest hacker", and will feel the need to prove their abilities.

[gordianot]

21. Right

They also know everytime they break into a system it will cost the United States a Billion dollars. Invite that terrorism next time.

[Hard_Work]

23. No 'hackers' will feel the need

to prove themselves. Man, for people who are so decidedly anti corporate media, you all really bit the bone on this one. This guy is a 'cracker', NOT a hacker. Hackers' #1 precept is 'do no damage'. We are explorers, not terrorists, thieves, or whatever else you call us.

Also, as for the damage crackers do, it would be millions of times worse if HACKERS didn't stop them. Google the Mentor's "Hackers Manifesto".

[youspeakmylanguage]

24. Exactly right...

A lot of responses on this thread have been ridiculous.

This guy is a cracker loon with apparently (and unfortunately) a lot of talent and expertise. I doubt he has any real connections to the hacker community at large.

Hackers are simply computer experts who enjoy exploring and solving problems. Crackers are malicious as*holes who use whatever expert knowledge they can learn or steal from real hackers (the thieves are called Script Kiddies) to wreck havoc.

Please, people, educate yourselves a little! We're supposed to hold ourselves to a higher critical standard.

[youspeakmylanguage]

25. Exactly right...

WTF? DU just duplicated my post...

[Sin]

19. Why did he have to pick UFOs

of all things He could have spent his time gathering evidence on he picks little green men instead all the activity's of bush and his and his cabal. Hard proof of there connection with vote tampering, Budget lists on were the missing billions of dollars that there funneling to who knows were from this war There is probably a million other things that could have actually helped the people of this planet.
I would have gladly payed 70 years of my time to to stop these lunatics So if there are any other people out there looking for his title Start with bush and the lot then move on to Bigfoot.

[MadHound]

31. Well, perhaps he is the most prolific hacker

But the fact that he was caught certainly doesn't make him the best. I've known a couple that could probably best him one on one.