“To hear the US government tell it, Gary McKinnon is a dangerous man, and should be extradited back to America to stand trial in a Virginia courtroom,” Clark Boyd reports for BBC News. “One US prosecutor has accused him of committing ‘the biggest military computer hack of all time.’ If extradited, Mr McKinnon could face decades in US jail, and fines of close to $2m.”
“The US government alleges that between February 2001 and March 2002, the 40-year-old computer enthusiast from North London hacked into dozens of US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Department of Defense computers, as well as 16 Nasa computers,” Boyd reports. “It says his hacking caused some $700,000 dollars worth of damage to government systems. What’s more, they allege that Mr McKinnon altered and deleted files at a US Naval Air Station not long after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and that the attack rendered critical systems inoperable. The US government also says Mr McKinnon once took down an entire network of 2,000 US Army computers. His goal, they claim, was to access classified information.”
McKinnon admits “that he hacked into dozens of US government computer systems. In fact, he calmly detailed just how easy it was to access extremely sensitive information in those systems. ‘I found out that the US military use Windows,’ said Mr McKinnon in that BBC interview. ‘And having realised this, I assumed it would probably be an easy hack if they hadn’t secured it properly.’ Using commercially available software, Mr McKinnon probed dozens of US military and government networks. He found many machines without adequate password or firewall protection. So, he simply hacked into them,” Boyd reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: That the US military would use insecure Microsoft Windows operating systems for any computer containing sensitive information is beyond belief.
Advertisements:
• MacBook Pro. The first Mac notebook built upon Intel Core Duo with iLife ’06, Front Row and built-in iSight. Starting at $1999. Free shipping.
• iMac. Twice as amazing — Intel Core Duo, iLife ’06, Front Row media experience, Apple Remote, built-in iSight. Starting at $1299. Free shipping.
• iMac and MacBook Pro owners: Apple USB Modem. Easily connect to the Internet using dial-up service. Only $49.
• iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
• iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping.
• Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Cybersecurity advisor Clarke questions why anybody would buy from Microsoft – February 18, 2005
U.S. Army’s 1,566 64-bit Apple Xserve G5 supercluster can exceed 25 teraflops – September 15, 2004
UK Royal Navy will run nuclear bomb-carrying warships on Windows 2000 – September 07, 2004
US Army to Bill Gates: cut out the freebies immediately – March 11, 2004
CCIA wants U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security to reconsider buying ‘insecure Microsoft software’ – August 29, 2003
U.S. Department of Homeland Security says Windows vulnerable to attack – August 01, 2003
Department of Homeland Security chose Microsoft due to time and money limitations – July 21, 2003
U.S. Department of Homeland Security awards enterprise agreement to Microsoft – July 15, 2003
Would you like to play a game of chess?
Is it just me, or does this Gary McKinnon guy look STRIKINGLY similar to Richard Ramirez, the infamous L.A. Serial Killer AKA “Night Stalker”.
7-2-Richard-Ramirez-headshot-(200).jpg)
Copy and paste that last line into your browser – it’s too long and broke up…..
Can someone tell me what all the formatting commands are for posting here – especially how to post a reference to a link using words. Thanks.
Testing again…
Is it just me, or does this Gary McKinnon guy look STRIKINGLY similar to Richard Ramirez, the infamous L.A. Serial Killer AKA “Night Stalker”.
Gary McKinnon:
Richard Ramirez:
7-2-Richard-Ramirez-headshot-(200).jpg)
If they break just c & P……Again, can someone tell me how to refernce a link to words in a post? Thanks.
One last test………
Is it just me, or does this Gary McKinnon guy look STRIKINGLY similar to Richard Ramirez, the infamous L.A. Serial Killer – AKA “Night Stalker”.
<a >Gary McKinnon</a>
<a >Richard Ramirez
Ok last try before i die…….
Is it just me, or does this Gary McKinnon guy look STRIKINGLY similar to Richard Ramirez, the infamous L.A. Serial Killer – AKA “Night Stalker”.
I’m persistant….
Is it just me, or does this Gary McKinnon guy look STRIKINGLY similar to Richard Ramirez, the infamous L.A. Serial Killer – AKA “Night Stalker”.
SORRY!
THIS BETTER WORK:
Is it just me, or does this Gary McKinnon guy look STRIKINGLY similar to Richard Ramirez, the infamous L.A. Serial Killer – AKA “Night Stalker”.
That’s what you get for using Windows… it’s even a threat to our own national security!