Security threats Toolkit

The NASA hacker: Scapegoat or public enemy?

Tags:
Hacking NASA

Colin Barker ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 13 Jul 2005 13:35 BST

How do you come across these things? Is information on antigravity devices freely available?
Some of it is but it is a combination of what is freely available and what isn’t. Take the Disclosure Project which is a group investigating UFOs run by Steven Greer, a doctor, and he had 300 testimonials in his book from people, ranging from civilian air traffic controllers to ex-commanders-in-chief of NATO, all saying 'yes, UFOs exist, yes certain parts of the military know about this, and have this and are using the technology and implementing a trickle-down thing so that eventually the technology will be everywhere.'

How does the possibility of being extradited to the US make you feel?
Better than I was the first time around [the 2002 case], although it is very similar. I had lots of work lined up which was Internet-related — computer games testing — and I have lost that because of my bail conditions. My landlord wants me out, because of all the press and police attention we had so it is a bit of a rerun of 2002. Lost the flat, lost the work but I managed to keep the girlfriend this time. For a few days it was very dark but I am feeling quite up now because we have been talking to [Conservative MP] Boris Johnson who is leading a Parliamentary Early Day Motion against the 2003 Extradition Act along with the Enron Three [three British bankers who are also facing extradition to the US] — or the NatWest Three as they like to be called now. So together we are trying to get a judicial review going and change the law.

So what is the official position?
I asked my solicitor why the CPS had taken my case away from the UK police and handed it to the US. She was speaking to someone who was fairly high up and he said that it had gone way above his head. Reading between the lines, that means the Home Office.

Is that a good thing?
No. It almost sounds like a done deal to me. The fact that I am not alone is encouraging. We are getting nearly 70 MPs signed up to the early-day motion.

Have you had much response, or help, from the hacker community?
I never really mixed with the hacker community, if you can call them that. In fact, after all of this happened back in 2002, some of them contacted me but they are not really hackers. In fact they are all professionals, but they used to hack, and they are very good and they are a knowledgeable lot. Some know about the law, some know forensic computing, and there has been a good bit of support there. In fact, the Free Gary Web site came from one of those people.

A Web site you are not allowed to use, of course, because of your bail conditions?
Right, I have to collect printouts of my emails and stuff. Which is silly as I have been free to use the Internet for three years, although I haven’t actually had my own Internet account.

For more information see:

The Free Gary McKinnon web-site

The charges against McKinnon

The Disclosure Project