Gary McKinnon and Other Hackers

From Earthtimes.org:

Gary McKinnon, a British national, who is accused by the United States of illegally accessing over 97 military and government computers in the US, was released on bail till July 27 after he made an appearance at the Bow Street magistrates’ court in London.

McKinnon was arrested on Tuesday. He faces charges of computer fraud, which were issued in November 2002 by U.S. prosecutors. They claim that starting February 2002, McKinnon illegally accessed the 97 computers, which included systems at the Pentagon and the NASA. These illegal intrusions reportedly caused a damage of about $700,000.

...McKinnon was indicted in 2002 by a federal grand jury on eight counts of computer-related crimes in 14 different states in the US. Paul McNulty, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, had commented at that time, "Mr. McKinnon is charged with the biggest military computer hack of all time." The indictment said that McKinnon accessed an army computer at Fort Myer, Virginia.

He obtained administrator privileges and transmitted codes, information and commands and also deleted almost 1,300 user accounts. It also alleged that McKinnon installed tools to gain unauthorized access to other computers. McNulty said that by using the automated software available on the Internet, McKinnon scanned tens of thousands of computers on U.S. military networks from his home computer. He was looking for ones, which he could expose due to flaws in the Windows operating system. Investigators say that most computers that he accessed had easy-to-guess passwords.

McKinnon's solicitor, Karen Todner said that her client did not deny the illegal intrusions. In his defense, McKinnon told her that he only wanted to prove the existence of UFOs and expose security failures in the highest departments. If convicted, McKinnon faces upto $1.75 million in fines and 70 years in jail.

What McKinnon did was illegal. No excuses.

His lawyer's argument that he really didn't mean any harm is a joke. The fact is he hacked into systems he had no right to access.

I've read commentary in the British press that it's the fault of the U.S. for not having adequate security. While I believe the U.S. should have the most extensive security measures in place, I think it's crazy for anyone to suggest that McKinnon bears less responsibility for his crimes because of factors like "easy-to-guess passwords."

If an individual fails to lock a window and a burgular breaks into the home, does that exonerate the criminal? NO!

Like McKinnon, the hacker who broke into my email and harassed me online is a criminal.

Responsibility for the CRIME lies with the CRIMINAL, not the VICTIM.