British Hacker's Extradition Delayed

British Hacker's Extradition Delayed

The European Court of Human Rights momentarily postponed the extradition of a British hacker who has a criminal case in the U.S. for perpetrating the "biggest military computer hack of all time". Following legal hearings in the UK, it was decided in July 2006 that he should be extradited to the US


Gary McKinnon, a system administrator, is accused of hacking into 97 United States military and NASA computers in 2001 and 2002. The computer networks he is accused of hacking include networks owned by NASA, the US Army, US Navy, Department of Defense, and the US Air Force. He was tracked down and apprehended by the UK National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) in 2002.



A France-based court said that McKinnon should be allowed to stay in the UK at least until August 28, 2008. If he is extradited to the US and charged, McKinnon faces up to 60 years in jail and has expressed fears that he could be sent to Guantanamo Bay. He has said that he will contest the extradition proceedings and believes that he should face trial in the UK, principally as he argues that any alleged crimes were committed there and not in the United States.