UFO hacker is broken man, says family


Recommended Posts

A GLASGOW-BORN computer expert accused of hacking into American military systems is "distraught" as he awaits extradition to the US, his family and friends said yesterday.

The parents and girlfriend of Gary McKinnon, 42, joined supporters in London for a demonstration outside the Home Office, calling on the government to prevent him from being handed over to American authorities.

McKinnon, an unemployed systems analyst from north London, admits accessing 97 US military and Pentagon computers, but claimed he was looking for UFO files.

The US government accuses him of stealing passwords and deleting files.

McKinnon faces up to 70 years in prison if he is found guilty.

His partner, Lucy Clarke, 37, said: "He is a broken man ? he is distraught. The whole family has been living in terror."

His father, Charlie McKinnon, 63, who travelled from his Glasgow home, said: "I don't want him to go to America.

"There is no hope for him to face a fair trial ? they've made up their minds."

source

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/665786-ufo-hacker-is-broken-man-says-family/
Share on other sites

I bet he found some stuff that was so classified that the only way he'll never talk is if he's locked away. 70 years for hacking some crap computer systems with bad security, he should be working for them. the justice system today is some fus.

Of all the bad things people do, sneak-peeking into government UFO pictures is hardly a major crime.

He did nothing for money.

He did not help our 'enemies'.

Waste the tax-payers money on more important things and let this man alone.

His father, Charlie McKinnon, 63, who travelled from his Glasgow home, said: "I don't want him to go to America.

"There is no hope for him to face a fair trial ? they've made up their minds."

true or not, that's the perception the rest of the world has of the US. Maybe the whole terrorist thing didn't help much after all.

typical lethargic american government/legal system over this sorta thing. Bottom line is if he's extradited he's going to be demonized as a terrorist in the american legal systems eye and will be treated accordingly is what they're pointing out. He's admitted his crime and what he done but they are so mindless to the fact that they won't even allow him to do a justified sentence for it... they need to kill him behind bars for his crime like wtf is that about... then you can just see if he's extradited he won't get a fair trial because they are in their own country they can just fabricate evidence to their hearts content to try and prove it which is bullsh**... this sorta stuff that just hurts your head wondering wtf is this world coming to...

I think you are missing the point here.. HE HACKED into Government computers.. I don't give a rats a$$ if he was looking for UFO's or a copy of his birth certificate, he hacked into government computers. I mean come on.. how do WE know what he looked at? They also said he deleted some files...

Would you NOT be ****ed off and want to sue some person for hacking into your computer? Especially if he deleted some of your files?

I think you are missing the point here.. HE HACKED into Government computers.. I don't give a rats a$$ if he was looking for UFO's or a copy of his birth certificate, he hacked into government computers. I mean come on.. how do WE know what he looked at? They also said he deleted some files...

Would you NOT be ****ed off and want to sue some person for hacking into your computer? Especially if he deleted some of your files?

agreed. The man is 42, he is more than old enough to know that what he did is wrong. Nobody forced him to hack into the computers and he did it not once, not twice, but 97 times. I feel no sympathy for this man because now that he's been caught he wants to cry a river, should have thought about that when he committed the crime.

I think you are missing the point here.. HE HACKED into Government computers.. I don't give a rats a$$ if he was looking for UFO's or a copy of his birth certificate, he hacked into government computers. I mean come on.. how do WE know what he looked at? They also said he deleted some files...

Would you NOT be ****ed off and want to sue some person for hacking into your computer? Especially if he deleted some of your files?

yes i'd be ****ed, would i want the person responsible to be tried as a terrorist? no.

He broke the law but the punishment seems quite heavy-handed.

Makes you wonder if all he saw really was UFO-related. For all we know, the security services know exactly what he saw and that's the reason for the heavy-handedness.

thats the point, he isn't being asked to be let off etc, he's accepting a punishment but not one from the 'ZOMG HE'S A TERRORIST!!!!!' style US

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

I have to wonder if he really did understand what he was doing was wrong. I say that because he was dumb enough to hack into US Government computers, let alone 97 times, did he really not think he would be caught? -_-

I don't see why they are surprised he's being extradited, what did they think was going to happen? I'm just totally confused about what he expected to happen. I, at least, hope he saw something worthwhile to make the whole thing not a waste.

I would think they are classifying him as a "cyberterrorist" instead of your stereotypical suicide bomber terrorist. Sure his intent wasn't malicious(or at least I guess it wasn't), but hacking into computers and deleting files? We don't even know what he deleted, it could have been something important.

Edited by Travis959
I think you are missing the point here.. HE HACKED into Government computers.. I don't give a rats a$$ if he was looking for UFO's or a copy of his birth certificate, he hacked into government computers. I mean come on.. how do WE know what he looked at? They also said he deleted some files...

Would you NOT be ****ed off and want to sue some person for hacking into your computer? Especially if he deleted some of your files?

Oh yeah definitely if that's what had happened but put yourself in his shoes for a moment and take time to understand the problem here. His LIFE is on the line here would that not cause you to speak the truth and should he have deleted files or found something and ended up in this situation don't you think he would do an eye for an eye and leak what he found and deleted if he done anything if they are going to kill him over it ? He's explained it all he done in detail none of it's worth taking anybodies life over except the legal system in america feels he should be killed for their own relaxed security and fabricate that he deleted files or whatever to cover their ass from accepting they were wrong and what best way to cover you from being wrong then by killing the purpetrator doesn't this sound almost like police brutality and you say this is ok... that's just wrong. The point here is they are going to put him behind bars until he's dead for their own mistakes and lack of integrity over a crime which i'm not saying is wrong but punishment is not justified and in their eyes and abilitys the claims are fabricated for the above reasons.

well, he should have been out looking for a job...and besides? don't they have UFO's in the UK..or is that just Trolls and Knomes...LOL

besides, I doubt if he will even get close to 70 years. I'm sure Gordon Brown or your Queen will work something out.

Edited by jwjw1
well, he should have been out looking for a job...and besides? don't they have UFO's in the UK..or is that just Trolls and Knomes...LOL

besides, I doubt if he will even get close to 70 years. I'm sure Gordon Brown or your Queen will work something out. Might even work for your Government Computer Security....like at least add a 'password' for Idenity Collections.

In an ideal world that would be possible but trying to make compromises with the US demands ends up leaving your country at odds like russia atm so that's why none of these departments or people will help protect him because of political preassure.

Hacking into US government computers is not my idea of a good thing to do :|

I agree, but at the sametime the security on those computers was pure CRAP. If the stuff on those computers were that classified, wouldn't you expect the united states government to protect those computers?

The fact of the matter is that they didn't protect them. The guy commited a crime, but bringing him to the US to face a justice system that already made up it's mind and will impose an exagerated sentence is not good either.

The way I see it, it's the people in charge of security in those government facilities that should be in trial for sucking at their jobs.

I don't give a **** if the security was crap. If I leave my house unlocked and you go in and steal something, that's stealing. I don't care if you say that all you wanted to take from me was a penny. You stole. This guy can go straight to jail as far as I'm concerned.

Hopefully their govt does something and steps in. They are right, he has no chance at a fair trial here. We'll just waste tax dollars by having him here. Thats a long ass time for something thats a NON violent crime. I dont give a **** what anyone thinks either. Drug dealers, rapists get less then that, if any time at all! It makes no sense at all. UK govt should just tell us to **** off your not getting him and be done with it.

If someone gets by your security by something so simple, then thats on you. Don't go crying about it if there was something more that YOU could have done to stop it before it happened. They take our tax dollars they could have atleast put an extra layer of protection on it.

People are wondering why he got 70 years and why the government calls it "the biggest military hack of all time". Here's a list of what he apparently found:

-List of military/government officers listed as "non-terrestrial"

-Documents about a secret space program and "fleet to fleet transfers"

-Documents about alien technology

-Documents about free energy

-Documents about the known alien presence and the cover-up of it

-Documents about anti-gravity technology

-Documents that mention there's a "building 8" at NASA used for airbrushing images before they reach the public

-Documents with names of "ships". When he searched the names they didn't match any publicly known ships.

-Images of UFO's

Among other things...

Before Gary McKinnon was ever known, there have been some very credible people talking about all this same exact stuff. Former astronauts, government and military officials were coming out and talking about the same stuff years ago and still do. These people would have no reason to lie and say they're tired of the government hiding everything from the public. You can't ignore stuff like that. Especially when it's come from more than a few astronauts over the years. They've also talked about how the security around a lot of the stuff is actually very poor and how a lot of it is right out in the open because that's the best place to hide it.

There's a very good reason why they want him put away for 70 years. He saw some things and they want to make sure he never talks about it again.

My two cents worth

Edited by NightmarE D
People are wondering why he got 70 years and why the government calls it "the biggest military hack of all time". Here's a list of what he apparently found:

-List of military/government officers listed as "non-terrestrial"

-Documents about a secret space program and "fleet to fleet transfers"

-Documents about alien technology

-Documents about free energy

-Documents about the known alien presence and the cover-up of it

-Documents about anti-gravity technology

-Documents that mention there's a "building 8" at NASA used for airbrushing images before they reach the public

-Documents with names of "ships". When he searched the names they didn't match any publicly known ships.

-Images of UFO's

Among other things...

Before Gary McKinnon was ever known, there have been some very credible people talking about all this same exact stuff. Former astronauts, government and military officials were coming out and talking about the same stuff years ago and still do. These people would have no reason to lie and say they're tired of the government hiding everything from the public. You can't ignore stuff like that. Especially when it's come from more than a few astronauts over the years. They've also talked about how the security around a lot of the stuff is actually very poor and how a lot of it is right out in the open because that's the place place to hide it.

There's a very good reason why they want him put away for 70 years. He saw some things and they want to make sure he never talks about it again.

My two cents worth

Good point - putting something under the most mega extreme super ultra high security is basically waving a flag at hackers.

Whereas placing that design for free energy on standard Windows ME installation is not :p

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • How can it beat a Steam machine without a serious GPU? The two CU iGPU only provides about 5fps in gaming. That's not going to make any gamer happy.
    • Anthropic introduces Claude Tag, a new AI teammate for Slack by Fiza Ali Anthropic has announced Claude Tag, a new feature that lets teams work with Claude directly inside Slack. The idea is simple: once Claude is added to a Slack workspace and given access to selected channels, users can tag @Claude in conversations and assign tasks. Claude can then work through those requests using connected tools and data sources before posting its results back into a Slack thread. What makes Claude Tag different from a typical chatbot is that it's designed to operate as a shared assistant for an entire team rather than a single user. Everyone in a channel interacts with the same Claude instance. This allows the team members to see ongoing work and continue tasks started by others. Furthermore, Anthropic says the AI can build context over time by following conversations in channels where it has permission to operate. This means users don't have to repeatedly provide the same background information for every request. The system is also designed for asynchronous work. Instead of waiting for responses in a chat window, users can assign a task to Claude and return later once the work is complete. Anthropic says Claude can break larger requests into multiple steps and use connected tools to complete them. Moreover, the system can also schedule follow-up tasks and continue working on projects over extended periods. Another feature allows Claude to keep the users updated and follow up on unresolved tasks when its optional "ambient" mode is enabled. The company says the tool is already being used internally for software development, data analysis, support workflows, and debugging. According to Anthropic, around 65% of its product team's code is now generated through its internal version of Claude Tag. For organisations concerned about security, administrators can control which channels, tools, and data sources Claude can access. Separate Claude instances can also be configured for different departments, helping keep information isolated between teams. Administrators can also monitor activity logs, review completed tasks, and set spending limits at both the organisation and channel level. Claude Tag is now available in beta for Claude Enterprise and Claude Team customers and runs on Claude Opus 4.8 that was announced this May. The feature will also replace Anthropic's existing Claude in Slack application, with current users able to migrate within a 30-day migration window. Lastly, eligible customers will receive introductory credits to help teams evaluate the new experience.
    • Beats Studio Pro wireless over-ear ANC headphones drop to their lowest price yet by Fiza Ali Amazon is currently offering the Beats Studio Pro headphones at their all-time low price. The Studio Pro use 40mm active drivers which are designed to improve clarity and reduce distortion compared to previous models, with up to an 80% improvement over the Beats Studio3 Wireless. A built-in digital processor adjusts frequency response to keep the sound balanced rather than overly boosted in any one area. They also include Active Noise Cancelling that adapts to your surroundings to reduce background noise along with a Transparency mode that lets outside sound in when you need awareness of what’s going on around you. Furthermore, the headphones support personalised Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking as well as Dolby Atmos playback on supported content. Moreover, built-in voice-targeting microphones improve call quality. You can also switch between three sound profiles including Beats Signature for balanced music playback, Entertainment for films and gaming, and Conversation for clearer voice in calls and podcasts. Physically, they are designed to be worn for long periods without feeling heavy or awkward. The ear cushions use UltraPlush engineered leather while metal sliders allow you to adjust the fit. On the connectivity side, the Studio Pro use Class 1 Bluetooth for a stable, long-range wireless connection. There is also a 3.5mm input if you want to plug in directly, including use with in-flight entertainment systems. Controls are located on the headphones and include a "b" button for music and call control, a volume rocker, and a multifunction button used for switching listening modes, EQ settings, power, and pairing. In addition, the headphones offer integration with both Apple and Android devices. On Apple devices, they support one-touch pairing with iCloud-linked devices, hands-free Siri access, Find My tracking based on last connected location, and automatic software updates. On Android devices, they support Google Fast Pair, Audio Switch between compatible devices, and Google Find My Device tracking, with additional features available through the Beats app. When it comes to the battery performance, it is rated at up to 40 hours of listening time with ANC turned off, and up to 24 hours with ANC or Transparency mode enabled. A 10-minute Fast Fuel charge should provide up to 4 hours of playback. Finally, the headphones use a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and charge via USB-C. Beats Studio Pro Wireless Over-Ear ANC Headphones: $149.95 (Amazon US) Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • "lets you pause updates by choosing an end date, for up to 35 days" Wasn't it "indefinitely"?
    • Those extra reboots are related to the UEFI Secure Boot certificate update thing.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Rookie
      DaviKar went up a rank
      Rookie
    • Dedicated
      HidekoYamamoto94 earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • One Month Later
      timbobit earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      nates earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      462
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      161
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      110
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      81
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      69
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!