Americas

  • United States

Asia

Oceania

asacco
Managing Editor

Extradition Case Reopened for Alleged Military Computer Hacker

News
Feb 14, 20062 mins
CSO and CISOData and Information Security

A British man accused of hacking into the U.S. military computer system has had his extradition hearing reopened, BBC News reports.

Gary McKinnon, 40, allegedly hacked into 97 U.S. government computers between February 2001 and March of 2002, causing damage estimated at $641,000, according to BBC News.

McKinnon was originally arrested in 2002, but all proceeding were stopped before the extradition measures were taken.  He is currently fighting extradition at Bow Street Magistrates Court in central London, BBC News reports.

The suspect reputedly accessed roughly 50 U.S. Army computers, 26 Navy computers, 16 NASA computers, and one computer at both the Department of Defense and the Air Force, according to BBC.  A network of more than 300 computers at New Jersey’s U.S. Naval Weapons Station Earle were disabled after McKinnon allegedly deleted files.

McKinnon was granted bail at a hearing last July, and he faces more than 45 years in prison if found guilty.

On a separate note, are you a Harrison Ford fan?  Have you seen his new flick, ’Firewall?’  Check out what a handful of security chiefs had to say about the movie at Security Mavens’ Reviews of the Movie ’Firewall’.

Don’ forget to keep checking in at our CSO Security Feed page for updated news coverage.

asacco
Managing Editor

Al Sacco was a journalist, blogger and editor who covers the fast-paced mobile beat for CIO.com and IDG Enterprise, with a focus on wearable tech, smartphones and tablet PCs. Al managed CIO.com writers and contributors, covered news, and shared insightful expert analysis of key industry happenings. He also wrote a wide variety of tutorials and how-tos to help readers get the most out of their gadgets, and regularly offered up recommendations on software for a number of mobile platforms. Al resides in Boston and is a passionate reader, traveler, beer lover, film buff and Red Sox fan.

More from this author