July 15, 2009, Multiply, Garry Mckinnon

I’ve just been reading the latest episode in the rather bizarre story of Garry McKinnon; the Scottish born man who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, ( which is one of the Autistic Spectrum conditions) and managed, with simple, commercially available software to hack his way into top secret American military sites !! Stuff like this you couldn’t make up.

If there is any one who has not heard of this chap, this, in a nutshell, is his totally weird story.

Seems the chap, like many people with Aspergers, has an extraordinary high IQ coupled with a tendency toward compulsive /obsessive behaviour. His particular obsession turns out to be a fixation with extra terrestrial activities covered up (he believes) by the United States Administration. In the late nineties, McKinnon decided to use his hacker skills for, as he called it, “research”. He told the BBC that he started his “research” because he was convinced that Congress was denying the public critical information about unidentified flying objects and life on other planets. He believes that extraterrestrials have passed on knowledge of ‘free’ and unlimited energy and this information is being withheld from the rest of the world by the United States. In order to research his beliefs he used his computer expertise and experience as a system administrator (presently unemployed) to hack into a total of 97,  (the figure claimed by the united States), computers of the American Army and NASA, all between 2001 and 2002. The computer network that Garry apparently  “entered” and hacked, comprised of servers and PCs owned by NASA, the American Army, the American Navy, the Defence Department and the American Air Force.

Understandably this really seems to have irked certain individuals away on the other side of the pond. McKinnon was originally tracked down and arrested under the ‘’Computer Misuse Act’’ by the UK National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) in 2002’ who informed him that he would face six months community service. At the time the Crown Prosecution Service refused to charge him. However, later that year he was indicted by the United States government. Some where around this time the United States asked for the extradition of Garry McKinnon under the terms of the controversial 2003 Extradition Act, which makes provision for the extradition of UK citizens suspected of terrorist offences, to, (among other places), America without the need for ‘’prima facie’’ evidence. Which basically means the United States can ask for any one they want from this country if they say that person is a suspected terrorist and there is no requirement under this treaty for them to provide any evidence to support the accusation. The controversy was further fueled by the absence of any reciprocal arrangement in respect of anyone being extradited from the the United States to the UK.
Gary McKinnon was accused of being a cyber-terrorist responsible for the 'biggest military hack of all time’, and this, we are told, is why he must be extradited to stand trial in the United states where he faces a sentence of around 60 /70 years in prison !!!

For the last seven or so years Garry Mckinnon has been fighting this extradition and gathering quite a collection of supporters and protesters along the way. These supporters come from both sides of the pond; they include a whole heap of people from a political and judicial background, they include the almost obligatory rich and famous musicians, pop/ rock stars etc and the whole lot happily campaign alongside the not so rich or famous members of different Autism support groups. Garry himself has apparently become withdrawn, depressed, possibly suicidal, often unable to go out and completely terrified of being extradited. His doctors are now concerned for his health and mental well being. All of which is a pretty understandable reaction to being hounded for the last seven years.

The story is in the newspaper again today because it is the subject of discussion in parliament when MPs will be asked to vote in support of Garry and block his extradition.

My thoughts on this story??
Well, for a start, bizarre though his beliefs are, he is not alone in thinking them. These beliefs are the subject of countless books and conspiracy theories which does explain how easy it was for him to become so convinced and obsessed in the first place.
BUT; most importantly……………………….how the hell did an unemployed system administrator with Asperger's Syndrome manage to hack into some of what should be the most secure computer systems in the world??

watch the videos of his interviews and then see what you think.

A TOTALLY UNBELEIVABLE STORY

delete reply rjmarzano wrote on Aug 3, '09 This is a strange subject about what exactly has America learned from the various flying saucers that have crashed at Roswell, NM and other places. Bob Lazar claims to have worked on trying to reverse engineer these craft. Lazar is another strange figure in the UFO story. Preston Nichols also claims to have been involved with such things. But he says they were blocking out his memories of those activities using some sort of mind control. The Philadelphia Experiment was back in the 1940s where many people believe a time machine was created. Although I don't know if this involved extra terrestrial technology. Who knows what they've been doing since then. Well whatever they have it apparently wasn't able to prevent a plane from crashing into the Pentagon on 9/11. Jeff Marzano

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Jul 16, '09 wow, very interesting reading, Loretta. Thanks.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jul 16, '09 Nessie, from the group, made a comment on your page here and another person said perhaps they should give him a job hack proofing the computers.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jul 16, '09 brendainmad said BTW, I put the link on the group Conspiracy Theories. ok, that will be interesting, could you let me know what feedback you get please.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jul 16, '09 BTW, I put the link on the group Conspiracy Theories.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jul 16, '09 aimlessjoys said does he also tamper with the card catalog in the public library, from what I know of him, his only obsession is with alien lifeforms and tchnology...........not public libraries ...lol

delete reply aimlessjoys wrote on Jul 16, '09 Must be very difficult for him, indeed! So, does he also tamper with the card catalog in the public library, I wonder???? Hope he corrects some of the many errors there, lol!

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jul 16, '09 aimlessjoys said hope Garry continues to go free & gets to stop worrying about spending 60-70 years offline in some awful place of detention. He could be a very helpful person if allowed to be. I agree with you about not spending all that time in prison..............but maybe I should have mentioned.........he is banned from using computers LOl.............wonder why??

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jul 16, '09, edited on Jul 16, '09 I'VE JUST NOTICED SOMETHING ELSE VERY ODD ABOUT THIS. MORE PEOPLE HAVE READ THIS THAN VIRTUALLY ANY THING ELSE I HAVE EVER WRITTEN AND LESS PEOPLE HAVE COMMENTED...........DOES THIS MAN LEAVE PEOPLE SPEECHLESS??

delete reply nessiek wrote on Jul 16, '09 I have supported Gary McKinnon for years now since this story broke. Glad to see the support is still ongoing - thanks for getting the story out :o) Nessie x

delete reply aimlessjoys wrote on Jul 16, '09 Garry surely picked a terrible time in our history to cross wires w/the military-industrial complex that was supposedly protecting us ALL. Belief in aliens & extraterrestrial technology is certainly not limited to tinfoil helmet wearers & wingnuts anymore, although I personally think it is a belief encouraged by powers that were (& be) to screen the latest developments in human-built technology. However, a friend of mine's well-educated & reliable father who is in his 90's now, has long maintained his story of eye-witnessing one of the cigar-shaped aircrafts during the 60's. ( He wasn't abducted, though) In 2000-2001, the general public's computer literacy was much lower than it is now, so the threat of hackers was probably not considered top priority???? Now that I think of it, during that period of time my son who was a college student put a software on my computer so that he could help me with my pc problems by taking control of my pc from hundreds of miles away. Even that was kind of creepy. Thanks for sharing this story, Loretta! I hope Garry continues to go free & gets to stop worrying about spending 60-70 years offline in some awful place of detention. He could be a very helpful person if allowed to be.

delete reply bumblebeewings wrote on Jul 16, '09 will link also....great guy!

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jul 16, '09, edited on Jul 16, '09 brendainmad said Loretta, hope you don't mind if I link this post. good morning Brenda, of course I don't. It's a story that is just..........well plain weird. I take on board what Frank said (below) about the Act and the intentions of it but what I really don't understand is why the US is still pursuing this man, I'm not sure what they hope to gain, And the story itself os odd.......who would have thought a self confessed computer nerd could sit in his girl friends, grannys, living room on an old compuiter, with a dial up modem (no broadband) and do this !!! This is the ''free garry'' web site if you are interested http://freegary.org.uk/

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jul 16, '09 Loretta, hope you don't mind if I link this post.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jul 16, '09 Incredible sounds so weak but I can't think of anything better to say about this story. I will, however, be looking for it on the internet.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Jul 15, '09 forgetmenot525 said the controversial 2003 Extradition Act, which makes provision for the extradition of UK citizens suspected of terrorist offences Garry McKinnon is unfortunately caught-up in this broad sweeping and poorly thought out act. It is yet another example of the ill advised antics of the Cheney-Bush-Blair vaudeville act. Many of their antics go against the fiber of both of their respective countries. Hopefully the powers that are in place now will clarify and revise the provisions of that agreement. It is my belief that whatever McKinnon is guilty of should be handled in his own country and subject to acceptance by the country that has been offended. The act was/is intended for those countries that will not cooperate with other countries in prosecuting and punishing terrorists. As far as the absence of any reciprocal arrangement with the US, that was not appreciated by many Americans at the time and thought to be a slap in the face to our friends around the world who were willing to sign the agreement in the Hague. This probably stretches my political comment quota for July, so I'll try to behave myself for the rest of the month. Btw, Taz made me do it, he can be a real trouble maker. As far as Garry is concerned, let's hope that the MP's come through for him.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jul 15, '09 bennett1 said The 2003 Extradition Act is more than unfortunate Funny you should say that.....................I kept reading references to this Act and didn't quite believe it, I thought possibly the interpretation of the Act had been exaggerated in order to make a good story so I just kept putting in searches for the ''2003 Extradition Act''. Every thing that the search came up with just confirmed what the press stories had said. If you can find any thing to contradict this, please let me know.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Jul 15, '09 forgetmenot525 said 2003 Extradition Act, which makes provision for the extradition of UK citizens suspected of terrorist offences, to, (among other places), America without the need for ‘’prima facie’’ evidence. The story of Garry McKinnon is unfortunate. The 2003 Extradition Act is more than unfortunate as it goes against principles the USA were founded on. As I remember my history, it also violates the principles of British law going back to the Magna Carta.