Poll: Should Gary McKinnon be extradited to the US for hacking?
- Thread starter Wiggins
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His condition doesn't lead him to do stuff like this. His condition merely makes him obssessive about subjects in which he has an interest. There's nothing about Asperger's Syndrome that actually predisposes someone towards breaking the law.
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No, sadly you are still here, even from the other side of the worldHaven't they got rid of this ******* yet? It's like a sodding soap opera.
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It may, just possibly, have something to do with the fact that a potential 60 year sentence for causing acute embarrassment to the American Department of Defence over their faecal IT security policies and procedures does seem a tad over the top.
Still, just think what would have happened if he played polo and had managed to gatecrash a White House event causing acute embarrassment to the American Secret Service
I think it's highly unlikely that he will serve the maximum sentence.
...but if he does then it's what was coming, it's his own fault. Don't freakin hack into military organizations...I mean jesus, wtf was he thinking.
...but if he does then it's what was coming, it's his own fault. Don't freakin hack into military organizations...I mean jesus, wtf was he thinking.
Its because its the very bad US of A that wants him if it was any other country i very much doubt that any of these whingers in here would raise an eyelid and would be happy to see him go for committing a crime and breaking the law.
Because (a) as above the indications are he won't be treated fairly (b) consideration doesn't seem to be properly given to a condition he suffers from - see below.
As mentioned previously he has aspergers... it results in problems with rational thinking especially what is and isn't acceptable in the mainstream social context.
He shouldn't really have been let lose on computer + internet like he was... but in all other ways hes essentially an adult - you can't deny him his human rights based on a vague possibility.
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Doesn't aspergers have a massive scale of severity though?
Has anyone come out and actually said how severe his is (aside from his defence council)?
Yup indeed - which is one of the reasons I say it must be properly taken into consideration...
Some manage to get a grip on their condition - can live self sustained normal lives through hard work and self discipline (and can be held fully accountable for their actions) - others are pretty much dependant their whole lives on their parents and or carers and need someone else to really be their compass and need to be dealt with in a different manner.
I remember theres a couple of people who post on these forums who have said they have it and that for the most part they've managed it so that it has almost no impact on their day to day life whatsoever.
EDIT: Don't want to seem like I'm trying to speak for people with aspergers - its just my own opinion based on having grown up with 2 people in my year at school who are more than moderatly affected by it - so I've been exposed to it more than is probably average and noticed a remarked indifference to it in the world at large - I'm sure theres plenty of other conditions I'm not aware of the implications of.
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Soldato
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True, they should not have been using blank or default passwords, but practically everyone and every organization will have some default passwords lurking about. Check your router admin page and see if you've got a default password lurking in your setup
If america's system was really that important then they shouldn't be using blank passwords should they? Point is... it can't of been that important, no lives were at risk, the world didn't end, there are far worse crimes that can be committed.
They want to give a 60 year sentence to some autistic fella who 'hacked' into an american system by using blank passwords?
Is it worth ruining an innocent guy's life just to make an example out of him for causing £800,000 of damage (figure changes in every paper) which they have no evidence of?
They want to give a 60 year sentence to some autistic fella who 'hacked' into an american system by using blank passwords?
Is it worth ruining an innocent guy's life just to make an example out of him for causing £800,000 of damage (figure changes in every paper) which they have no evidence of?
Man of Honour
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That's somewhat dubious logic - because they failed to take appropriate precautions it can't be important? Not really, it simply means that they didn't use adequate precautions and remember to change the passwords, that is their error rather than proof that it wasn't important information.
That's about the long and short of it except that it does seem a little unlikely that he would ever serve the full term.
Hold up a second - innocent? I didn't think there was any dispute that he had hacked into the American systems, we can debate whether it really counts as hacking but not that he got unauthorised access since that has already been admitted. As for the damages figure, I'm not privy to the level of evidence, are you?
He shouldn't be extradited. He should however be entitled to a fair trial on British soil. Even if it means bringing USA lawyers over. If convicted he should be forced to work in some cybersecurity department of either the USA or UK.
I don't understand why this is still going on after all these years. It really isn't that complicated
I don't understand why this is still going on after all these years. It really isn't that complicated
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Seems like an entirely reasonable and just approach . . . although I think that he would be better employed as a 1st line drone on a help-desk advising noobs on basic security
I think its pretty clear cut as you said he got unauthorised access to systems that common sense would normally tell someone not to access. As far as damage levels go its impossible to exactly quantify it in monetary value for this kinda "crime". He needs to be taken to account for this however and appropriate steps taken to curtail any future activities that could potentially end badly... banging him up in jail for 1 year let alone 60 years isn't justice for anyone its just the US trying to get payback.
He shouldn't be extradited. He should however be entitled to a fair trial on British soil. Even if it means bringing USA lawyers over. If convicted he should be forced to work in some cybersecurity department of either the USA or UK.
I don't understand why this is still going on after all these years. It really isn't that complicated
This guy is not a genious hacker... his input would be of little use to cybersecurity... he was extremely persistant in trying to find some information and by pure fluke finally exploited a badly protected system.
I haven't followed this for a while, but I too got the impression that he was hardly some hot shot... although I think that he would be better employed as a 1st line drone on a help-desk advising noobs on basic security
Yes. Exactly.
I use a fairly complex password for forums... but I use the same one for all forums... I care enough not to make it "abc123" however it's really not that important.
My email password... another 5 characters longer.
Whereas my bank & paypal login... that is a different story, i guard those with my life by keeping them in a .txt file on my desktop.
Given what we know... I wouldn't put it past america to have set the whole thing up as a trap, purely to make an example out of somebody. In order to stop more serious attacks. Like they did with 9/11 omg conspiracy
Either that or they're dumb basically.
I'm glad you picked up on the innocent part.
By that I meant he has caused no physical/mental harm to anybody... hes not stabbed/shot/mugged/whatever else'd somebody... hes sat at home and looked for aliens. He shouldn't be sentenced because of america's self importance disorder.
If something is '60 years in jail' important... it should be guarded with more than a blank or default password.