Slashdot Mirror
World's Biggest Hacker Held
Hieronymus Howard writes "The London Evening Standard is reporting that the "worlds biggest computer hacker" has been arrested in London.
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 U.S. government $1 billion 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. Apparently he broke into U.S. military computers to hunt for evidence of a UFO cover-up."
"Apparently he broke into US military computers to hunt for evidence of a UFO cover-up."
It sounds like an excuse to me.
So is the guy really nutty or is this just an attempt to justify his illegal activities?
Then again, perhaps he was on to something?
It could be worse, it could be Monday.
$1 billion damages? honestly - how do they come up with these figures?
they'd do better hiring this guy to teach their sysadmins a thing or two.
I don't believe that this guy is the world's biggest hacker. Have you seen Cowboy Neal??? Now that's big!
This guy was looking for UFOs. In Soviet Russia, UFOs look for you!
We all know that if he was an uber-hacker he would have created a Beowulf cluster of all the computers he hacked.
One billion in damages? That number has to be inflated. (Actually the article says 570000 pounds which is only about 1 Million US dollars according to my currency calculator)
If you do $1 Billion worth of damage just to look for UFO conspiracy information, you deserve to be locked up.
Although this could help his insanity plea.
The police have apologized to his mother for kicking in her door, but it was the only way they could reach the basement.
Pulp Audio Weekly - Geek News and Reviews
LOL..
;)
If you're that good you're doomed to either be retarded or wacko.
This obviously proves it
Scully: Should we arrest David Copperfield?
Mulder: Yes we should, but not for this.
Did he find any evidence of a UFO cover-up?
OMG, they finally caught JeffK!?
IGB: More fun than eating oatmeal!
Really? Because he broke into a Pentagon network? That just makes him stupid; if he were really a big hacker, he'd be doing blackhat corporate work. UFOs! Yeah...whatever.
Don't be a looter...and yes, I know that it's spelled with an "A" instead of an "E".
1 Beeelllion Dollars?
Where do they get that from? If that's really the case, it would only take about 6,000 people to cause enough damage to double the national debt!
The article doesn't mention anything anywhere about pure damages, for starters. It mentions the costs associated with tracking and capturing the guy, and costs correcting some of the problems - combined. Those costs are listed as 570,000 pounds. At the exchange rate I just looked up (1.83 dollars to a pound), that's still only 1,054,500 dollars, which is more like a meeelllion dollars. Even if they tack on the 950,000 pound in fines, that's still not even three million.
That's a far cry from a billion... and about two million less than the damages Kevin Mitnick was supposed to have caused.
Frankly, they should have just let this guy find some "evidence" of UFOs. Then he might have spent his time trying to convince people of it instead of looking for more!
libertarianswag.com
He wasn't onto anything. He found nothing. Nothing at all. He did not hack into our databases or steal information. Never happened. Never.
How does they measure the damage done by a single person. 1 billion sounds awful, and if it is this single person that has done so much damage, one must ask how he can do that. I have a feeling it falls back to relaxed security, lazy sysadins and such. And how does they compute how much damage he has done? I guess some corps use the chance to do changes when restoring, so they might in fact get a lot new, which might be incorporated into the costs. Also, destroying a solution that costed $1M to make does not mean it'll cost $1M to reimplement it... So my guess is that those costs is a bit bogus, at best.
Assembling etherkillers for fun an profit
goes by the name of 'Brasky'. i'd say he's about 8'5", 750 pounds.
---
Is this the MPAA? Is this the RIAA? Is this the DMCA? I thought it was the USA!
The question now is whether the government will attempt a plea deal and put him to work like we've seen in other cases. With jails full, it seems rather silly to put such useful talent behind bars when he really isn't a threat to society. Plus, he could be our secret weapon against those vicious North Koreans. He's got to be worth at least 100 NK's if he's the "biggest in the world, right?"
If you post, they will mod it.
I also thought it was a strange use of the word "big"
A really fat nerd was the mental picture that came to mind first.
Not bigger than Kim Schmitz, surely.
The Slashdot Paradox: "100% Overrated"
According to this, he's free on bail:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4071708.stm
Maybe it's just me, but any device connected to any other device is no longer to be considered as secure.
I would have guessed that the gubbermint's "most secure computers" would be airgapped, but apparently that is not the case. Or, perhaps, the author of TFA is being just a bit sensational and overdramatic. ;)
The Evening Standard releases The Metro and Evening Standard Lite. All are rubbish.
[% slash_sig_val.text %]
Here is the photo that Reuters released for this news story. It shows the worlds biggest hacker successfully getting into the Pentagon's secret UFO research labs.
He looks kinda feminine to me...
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
"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. "
OK, so this must have been some serious stuff going down for them to think that he was al Qaeda. Or was it?
"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. "
Uh oh, we're talking mentally off here.
"He is accused of a series of hacking offences including deleting "critical" files from military computers. The US authorities said the cost of tracking him down and correcting the alleged problems was more than £570,000. The offences could also see him fined up to £950,000 if found guilty on all charges. "
Here it comes, the big bill for this mentally off "al Qaeda" operative. "Lesse, captain, I spent my lunch hour running a scan." "Aha! We'll bill that time as worth £50,000!"
"Prosecutor Paul McNulty alleged that McKinnon, known online as "Solo," had perpetrated "the biggest hack of military computers ever". He was named as the chief suspect after a series of electronic break-ins occurred over 12 months at 92 separate US military and Nasa networks.
Ah, it gets better. This guy must have been hot stuff! They think he's some kind of master criminal or something. Or al Qaeda maybe.
"It is alleged that he used software available on the internet to scan tens of thousands of computers on US military networks from his home PC, looking for machines that might be exposed due to flaws in the Windows operating system.
Many of the computers he broke into were protected by easy-to-guess passwords, investigators said. In some cases, McKinnon allegedly shut down the computer systems he invaded. "
WHAT?! He's just a script kiddie??! All this fuss over some guy port scanning Windows boxes??
"The charge sheet alleges that he hacked into an army computer at Fort Myer, Virginia, where he obtained codes, information and commands before deleting about 1,300 user accounts.
Other systems he hacked into included the Pentagon's network and US army, navy and air force computers. "
So let me get this straight. Some nutcase into UFOs uses script kiddie technology to port scan Windows boxes and somehow manages to get into the Pentagon and the military? Are you kidding me? Either they are running Windows boxes with easy to guess passwords and insecure networks, or else they should have charged him with a lot worse stuff than standard port scanning. Or maybe the reporter has no clue what he did, but this doesn't add up.
The only thing that does make sense is the U.S. military thinking a script kiddie UFO chaser was a master criminal at work...
Why's it always gotta be about race?!
[DISCLAIMER: This post is a work of satire and should not be misconstrued as a holy text upon which to base a religion.]
Theres an error in the summary. No one claimed he was the world's biggest hacker. The quote was in fact "Mr McKinnon is charged with the biggest military computer hack of all time"
-Paul McNulty, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
"Its a grey area". "How grey?" "Somewhat of a charcoal shade"
Unless the Pentagon and NASA have VERY VERY silly systems, their *really* important computers are simply *not* accessible to hackers. I really can't believe that truly ensitive systems wouldn't just be air-gapped from the world.
Sure, it's possible to hack intelligence agencies but it I'd put money on it failing to get you the really juicy stuff!
He only committed a crime in the UK even though the effects that crime where in the US. There are already enough laws in the UK about breaking into military sensitive computers that can put him in jail for a very long time and there are enough treaties with the US so that breaking into a US military computer in the UK can get you thrown in jail forever.
The judge should rule that he can't be extradited to the US until he has been tried in the UK and then only if the US has charges that don't fit into double jeopardy.
Yes, a saltine of massive proportions.
The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
If he was really smart he would have broken into the alien computer system via the link in...ah, forgot I ever said that.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Then again, perhaps he was on to something?
Yeah, and insanity plea. Doen't mean he shouldn't do serious time, just that he should do it where they have nice soft walls, milk and cookies.
Ummmm, the round kind, with little bits of chocolate in them. The other kind are part of the alien plot to enslave us, but don't tell anyone or the MIBs will come for you.
Arrrrrrrrgh!
KFG
The guy is smart enough to cobble together scripts and guess passwords so he can get into computers run by US Military Intelligence ("The World's Biggest Oxymoron", by the way)...
And what does he look for? UFO information! Now he's facing 70 years in prison.
Come on, that must be the equivalent of tipping a Coca-Cola machine onto yourself.
Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
No, I'm New Here
It's a good thing he didn't download Eminem songs as well. Then he would have been in deep shit.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
Don't be too sad for him, he got his wish. He's about to be far more involved with anal probing.
Obviously you have never had all work completely stop while the sysadmins wiped every machine clean and restored files from backup. A hacker at Langley Research Center easily wasted $1 million dollars a day for 4 days, just in the pay to unproductive employees.
or alien technology?
Sorry. But snooping around a house, checking the door, finding it unlocked and entering without homeowner permission is still illegal.
--Kevin
That must be it. Here's a picture of him.
But why is the rum gone?
3.9 Million Citigroup Customers' Data Lost
the corporate mentality never ceases to disillusion me--where's the class action lawsuit?
Well diffence between hacking and breaking and entering are somewhat simular. The only diffence is no physical damage to system, and potentially no logical damage as well. But that is where the difference stops.
If I owned a shop and I closed the door and forgot to lock it and turn on the security system. But put the closed sign up at the end of the day and a guy walked in and robbed me blind. And the next day we found the theif he would still be arrested for stealing or if he read my books he would still be guilty of corprate esponage.
Or say I have a convirtible and I locked the door but left the top open. And he just reached around and unlocked my doors and hotwired my car (Or even if I left the keys in). He stole my car. If cought he would be tried for grand theft auto. Even if he returned the car at the end of the day he will still be arested for steeling my car.
Just because your victim is stupid it doesn't make comitting a crime right.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
I think its interesting how computer crimes (even ones that technically do no physical damage, like destroying of files/property, etc) can warrant these huge jail times, yet a confessed convicted rapist, child molester, or other misc. violent criminal can sometimes get as few as 5 years in prison.
What does that tell us? We care more about our files than our children. While I don't think that breaking into a computer system just to prove you can is a smart idea (not saying that was the case in this situation, but rather in general), but I would consider a child molestation as a much more heinous crime, that should always warrant a longer sentence.
Laws aren't there to protect you, they are there to protect the rich.
Some poor looser raping other poor looser's kids is bad for their work productivity, so it is illegal, but acts that could cause the rich to loose riches are much more illegal, because these things really matter to those who make the laws.
You can't take the sky from me...
Everyone, please send emails to this address of a similar nature:
7 14?source=Evening%20Standard&ct=5
m l
Dear editor,
I am a computer hacker. By this, I mean that I enjoy learning and exploring computer technology. I have a degree in computer science, and am involved in many not-for-profit computer-technology endeavors. I am not a criminal. I do not violate computer security, I do not write malicious software, and I do not intentionally cause harm to the computer systems that I have access to. Any computer system access that I have has been given to me through legitimate means. It has come to my attention that you have used the term 'hacker' in the article linked below to indicate a person who intentionally violates computer security systems: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/19164
The proper term for such a person is 'cracker' or 'security breaker', i.e. one that "cracks" computer security. By using the term 'hacker' in the way that your publication has done, you spread misinformation about me, and people like me. You are demeaning and destroying a culture that, above all, values learning, knowledge, and wisdom. Please stop insulting hackers by equating them with criminals. For more information, see here: http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/appendixc.ht
Please issue a correction, and please make sure that a clear distinction is made in the future.
(your name here)
A Proud Hacker
I pity the foo that isn't metasyntactic
Sure, that's true! Last year I was standing next to a house, smoking some weed, when I lost my balance, tripped, and fell through a window! I thought I might as well crash there, so I took a nap in the owner's bed.
The sad thing that I see all the time is the easier it is to break the security system the harser the penalty.
This guy broke the military network for three days. Shouldn't it have been more secure.
I'm not saying what he did was right. What I'm asking is how much was spent on security before he took his tour. Shouldn't the people (companies whatever) that where responcible for security have some culpability?
JACEM
DOC Disinformation Obfuscation and Confusion
The carrot to FUD's stick
. . . Halliburton has won a no-bid contract from the Bush administration to fix the "$1 billion" of damages.
Except that if it ISN'T a crime where I did the action is it still a crime? IE if I crack a US CD in the UK am I inviolation of the DMCA? What if that CD was in a drive on a PC in the USA? The question comes down to at which computer did the crime take place? The one he used, or the one he broke into? If the argument is the doing what he did at his computer is a crime, then UK should have jurisdiction with all the leagal-ese the comes with it. If, on the other hand, the crime takes place at the site of the infiltrated computer, how do you know what the laws are of a computer your using when you don't know physically where that computer is, and so can't really do anything with it, etc.
Yep. It's still illegal. But while it's illegal for a burglar to enter your unlocked house, you're no less of an idiot for leaving it unlocked. And exaggerating the scope of the break-in ("he diabolically circumvented the integrity of the house by adjusting the rotational position of the entry affordance!") has as more to do with CYA (in the case of the homeowner, perhaps to collect insurance) than it has to do with the guilt of the burglar.
And on a related note, what accounts for the $1billion damages? I'd wager a large part of that is plugging security holes that should not have been there in the first place. Although it's stated in the article that fixing the problem and tracking him down cost £570,000 pounds.
In fact, reading the article, I can find no reference to $1 billion. It's estimated that he may be fined £900,000 (that figure makes so much sense), but if that equates to $1 billion at the current exchange rate then I think I better get over there and buy a town. Editors not reading the story?
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
We have always been at war with Eastasia.
Why is it that when you believe something it's an opinion, but when I believe something it's a manifesto?
And on a related note, what accounts for the $1billion damages?
I've just read Bruce Sterling's "Hacker Crackdown", in which there is a similar claim by a large corporation (AT&T) of a document being worth almost $80k, while a very similar document was sold for 13 bucks by the same company to anyone who asked for it.
The interesting part was how they arrived to the 80k figure for a 12 page doc. In it they computed, among other things, two weeks of a typist and an observer...
Stupidity is an equal opportunity striker.
Fellow slashdotter Bill Dog
The little bastard deserves everything he gets. No defense coming from me here.
It's bastards like this that screw things up for grey-hats everywhere. Ok, you were curious, you wanted information, and the information wanted to be free... good enough. But you don't go deleting files and user accounts! How fraggin dumb can you be? "Hmm, I just hacked NASA and no-one knows.... I think I'll fuck things up!".
If he'd just gone looking for the information and gotten busted, I would have had sympathy for him. But he just went to wreck shit up. "Looking for UFOs" is just AOL-Speak for "Shit, I got caught being a dick and I need an excuse, quick!"
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
Dear Person,
As it turns out, that is not correct. According to the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary, and the Oxford English Dictionary the word hacker has two meaning in relating to computers. One of them is a person who is an expert with computer and/or someone who peruses computer knowledge for its own sake, the other is a person who uses their skill with computers to gain unauthorized access to systems.
This is not an uncommon situation in English, for a word to have two related connotations, one positive and one negative: For example the word exploit. When used as a verb it can be used to mean a full positive use of something, such as to exploit one's talents means to make full use of your talents in a good way to achieve a goal. It can also be used in a negative way, such as to exploit illegal immigrant financial gain means to take unfair advantage of someone's position to your own selfish benefit. Both uses are not only accepted, but common. It is the context that dictates the meaning of the word.
The same is true with the word hacker. Your special interest sites like Slashdot do not set the stage for the English language, nor are they the authority on its correct usage. Thus in our article using hacker to describe someone who uses computer skill to gain illegal entry to systems is in every way as correct and accurate and a skilled programmer calling themselves a hacker. Thus we will not be issuing a correction, as there is nothing to correct.
In the future if you believe a word is being used incorrectly, I suggest you make a quick check with a dictionary to ensure that you are not confused. There are several online websites including www.dictionary.com, www.oed.com, and www.webster.com that will allow you to look up the definitions of words with ease.
Sincerely,
Editor-in-Chief person.
The extradition agreement signed between the US's Ashcroft and the UK's Blunkett over terror is seriously flawed; it doesn't require the the Americans to provide *any* evidence, but demands so from the Brits, and American authorities have proved too willing to misuse it, far beyond "terror". Furthermore, the treaty removes key protections, and the UK parliament was *not* consulted at all http://tinyurl.com/4yph4. For all I've seen, it's all been one-sided so far, with Brits extradited for various reasons, even to a Brit CEO demanded by the Americans for "price-fixing"(!!) http://tinyurl.com/7tdkv. The UK should *not* extradite any Brits to the US, at all!!! This American Gitmo administration is not fit for any role of justice!
Swamp gas. It was all swamp gas, ladies and gentlemen.
Now accepting PayPal donations!
The media will never start using "hacker" and "cracker" the way we'd like them to
"We?" What's all this "we" stuff? The adoption of "cracker" by the script-kiddies to mean something else in addition to saltine and Southern racist and illicit-vault-opener remains among the dopey-est linguistic forays of the past twenty years. For many of "us," "cracker" can't cease having any IT-related meaning fast enough.
Of course, if "war-driving" enters the popular lexicon of national newsrooms with any meaning beyond a description of what soldiers do in their Hummers, than "cracker" will finally be out-dopey-ified, but we've got our fingers crossed...
Technically not true. In most places the SIPRNET runs over the same infrastructure (wires, switches, etc) that the unclassified traffic runs over. The SIPRNET traffic is just encrypted using TACLANEs, so it is essentially a classified VPN as opposed to a physically separate network. It would be theoretically possible to hack into the SIPRNET from the Internet by compromising a TACLANE.
It was recently reported that Mark Hacking, who shot his wife in the head while she slept and dumped her body into a garbage bin, will receive 6 years for his crime.
McKinnon, on the other hand, who committed a nonviolent crime, could be jailed for 70 years. That's more than 10 times a murderer's sentence.
Apparently it's not such a big deal if you kill one of the common peasants, but they'll come down on you like a ton of bricks if you vandalize something belonging to the most high and holy government.