British hacker with Asperger's will receive no sympathy in the USA, Pentagon says

From The Telegraph in the UK:

Gary McKinnon (pictured), the Briton accused of hacking Pentagon and Nasa computer networks, faces an increasingly hostile climate on cyber security in the US if his extradition is approved this week.

American officials have made clear that they regard Mr McKinnon, 43, an unemployed computer programmer who has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, as a serious offender whose case must be pursued rigorously in the US courts.

Following a recent explosion of cyber assaults on US military, intelligence and government networks, the authorities say they are more determined than ever to prosecute national security hackers vigorously.

A senior military officer at the Pentagon told The Sunday Telegraph: "US policy is to fight these attacks as strongly as possible. As a result of Mr McKinnon's actions, we suffered serious damage and lost a lot of time and money.

"This was not some harmless incident. He did very serious and deliberate damage to military and Nasa computers and left silly and anti-American messages. All the evidence was that someone was staging a very serious attack on US systems."

A US intelligence official echoed those comments. "He really caused us a lot of trouble," he said last week.

Mr McKinnon's lawyers contend that he encountered minimal security as hacked into the computers in 2001 and 2002 in search of evidence to prove his belief in UFOs and alien life, making little effort to hide his actions.

His case has become a cause célèbre in Britain, especially since he was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism that leaves him particularly vulnerable to changes in his environment.

It has also become a lightning rod for frustrations about the UK-US extradition treaty, which British critics claim is one-sided - making it easier for the US to extradite suspects from Britain than it is for UK authorities to secure the return of accused criminals from America.

Andrew MacKinlay, the respected Labour MP for Thurrock, is to quit the Commons at the next election in protest after backbenchers fell in behind the Government, and failed to vote to block Mr McKinnon's extradition during a recent debate in parliament.

So great are the concerns in the US that President Barack Obama recently announced the creation of a "cyber tsar" to co-ordinate defence against hacking attacks.

"We are attacked millions of times a day and the attacks range from the nuisance to the highly sophisticated," said Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. Most recently, US government sites came under sustained assault on July 4 in attacks for which some suspect North Korea.

As America goes on the warpath against a daily battery of cyber attacks, his family and lawyers fear that he could be made an example in a Virginia courtroom should he lose his battle against being sent to the US.

Mr McKinnon has offered to plead guilty in the UK to misuse of computer systems but the British courts have so far rejected that proposal, saying that the alleged crimes and damage were committed on US networks. In America he faces far more serious charges of fraud and criminal damage. "Gary accepts he was hacking but he has always insisted that he was looking for evidence of UFOs in the systems he was accessing," said his lawyer, Karen Todner.

The High Court will give its judgment on Friday on his appeal against extradition. If he loses, Ms Todner plans to take the case to the House of Lords or European Court of Human Rights.

She said that Mr McKinnon would find himself under "enormous pressure" to settle his case with a plea bargain in the US as it would be rare for an accused foreigner to secure bail and his legal costs could be prohibitive. "He does not want to plea bargain but it will be very difficult for him," she said.

He will be tried in the Eastern District of the state of Virginia, a jurisdiction that has a reputation for tough judges and sentencing policies.

Under the US indictment, Mr McKinnon is charged with hacking into Army computers in nearly 20 military and six Nasa facilities, installing software, deleting thousands of files and copying account information. He allegedly committed damage that exceeded $600,000 in conduct that "significantly disrupted governmental function".

There is no suggestion that he operated in conjunction with enemy states or terrorists. But as such groups stage regular cyber assaults on sensitive networks, US officials emphasise that any hacking operations can severely compromise national security.

In arguing for his case to be heard in Britain, Mr McKinnon's supporters have emphasised the health and mental dangers in US prisons for an Asperger's patient. The National Autism Society submitted expert testimony that he would be vulnerable, disturbed, subject to bullying and could be regarded as rebellious or obstructive in jail.

The US department of justice has assured the Home Office, which supports the extradition, that Mr McKinnon would be properly treated for his condition.

But in a 30-page affidavit to the High Court, Joel Sickler, head of the Justice Advocacy Group in Virginia, quoted examples of other prisoners in US prisons to argue that Mr McKinnon "will almost certainly be exposed to neglectful care".

He said that the US bureau of prisons "has a well-known and terrible track record of delivering on any type of health care required by an inmate, especially those with some form of mental impairment".