The British Hacker who hacked into the Nasa and Pentagon systems has just lost his appeal at the European Court of Human Rights. Gary McKinnon, faces a series of charges regarding incidents that took place almost 10 years ago, He allegedly hacked into 53 US Army, 26 US Navy and 16 Nasa systems. He is supposed to have caused £380,000 ($700,000) damage to the systems and has been described as the biggest military hacker of all time.
McKinnon was inspired by the 1983 film WarGames which featured a teenager hacking into the Pentagon systems. He started to hack into systems as he believed that they contained information about UFOs and is alleged to have done this between 1999 and 2002 (when arrested).
McKinnon may now face extradition to the US. He lost his case in the House of Lords following a hearing and got a temporary stay by the European Court. The temporary stay has now been lifted . However as McKinnon is suffering from Asperger's Syndrome, his lawyers have written to the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to allow him to have a trial in the UK. If he is tried in the US , he could, in theory serve 60 years in prison.
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