Gary McKinnon: biography and photos of the British hacker

In March 2002, the whole world learned that the US military network had been subjected to numerous hacker attacks. All newspapers and TV reported that a hacker named Solo hacked hundreds of military computers. The name of the "unrecognized genius", which brought down the computers of the most impregnable and protected department, then no one knew. About Gary McKinnon started talking, when the US presented the guy with an accusation that threatened him with a life sentence.

How did it all start?

Gary was charged that he, using the name Solo, intentionally for 13 months, from February 2001 to March 2002, hacked hundreds of military computers.

McKinnon did not admit that he caused the system to malfunction. He said he could, perhaps, disable one computer by his actions. But until the official evidence is presented, he will not agree with this accusation.

US authorities said that Gary McKinnon is a hacker who understates his capabilities. A senior military officer at the Pentagon said that as a result of his actions, they received serious damage. He confidently stated that this is not an innocuous incident, but an organized attack on the computer systems of the United States. His actions are equivalent to terrorism.

What was he accused of?

The US military claims that it inflicted damage of $ 800,000 (£ 550,000) and left 300 computers unsuitable for work immediately after the September 11 terrorist attack.

He was accused of using his computer skills to access 53 US Army servers, including those used for national defense and security. And 26 computers of the US Navy, including the NWS Earle, which is responsible for replenishing ammunition and supplies for the Atlantic fleet. "Hacking 16 NASA computers and one computer of the US Department of Defense", he was also charged with these charges. Gary McKinnon allegedly stole 950 passwords and deleted NWS Earle files in New Jersey.

Mark Summers, a representative of the US government, told the London court that McKinnon's breaking was "intentional and calculated to influence and influence the US government by intimidation and coercion."

For the first time, Gary McKinnon British hacker was arrested on March 19, 2002 and interrogated. In August of the same year he was heard by the British Security Committee. In November, the Federal District Court of Virginia indicted seven facts of crimes, each of which had a potential ten-year sentence. In total, he faced 70 years in prison.

What really happened?

Between 1999 and 2002, McKinnon broke into the safest computer systems in the world from his apartment in London. Using Perl's computer language and a cheap PC, Gary searched for computers in an American database that were not password-protected. "I could scan 65,000 cars in less than nine minutes," he says.

Gary discovered unprotected systems controlled by the US Army, the Navy, the Pentagon and NASA. McKinnon, who describes himself as a "clumsy computer nerd", used his computer experience to crack. "Because the US does not disclose full information about aliens," says Gary McKinnon.

Biography and the Mackinnon family

Gary's parents were familiar from childhood. They lived in the largest city of Scotland - Glasgow. At fifteen, Janice, the mother of computer genius, realized she was hopelessly in love with Charlie McKinnon. He was the most caring and kind of all people she had ever known. A big fan of Elvis, he himself sang beautifully. Charlie performed in pubs. Janice worked in the store.

My first apartment was bought when she was fifteen. They decided to get married right after the sixteenth birthday of Janice. In Scotland, early marriages are prohibited. The minister of the church, where they turned to legalize their relationship, called Janice's parents to clarify whether they know that their daughter is getting married. Parents said that they know her young man very well. Charlie is a wonderful guy, and they are not against marriage. So the young couple got married.

A year later, in 1966, Gary was born. Janice turned 17 then. When she found out that she was waiting for the child, her world view of a very young girl changed at once. She really wanted children. But when I walked in the park and saw how young mothers were walking with three or even four kids, she decided firmly that she would have one child.

Gary was five years old when his parents divorced. Charlie was a wonderful father, says Jane. Probably the reason for the collapse of the family was that many early marriages are doomed to this. When Gary was six, Janice met Wilson. In 1972 the family moved to London. They are both musicians, and there were more opportunities for a career here. In 1974, Janice and Wilson got married.

But Gary was very bored by his father. In the end, Charlie came to London to work. Gary was happy. Charlie met his second wife in London. He has three sons and a daughter. But Gary was always an important part of his life. He has a wonderful relationship with his father, brothers and sister.

Childhood Gary

Gary McKinnon was born a strong, healthy baby. But I did not want to eat. Janice was very worried about this. Then everything got better. At 10 months old the kid got up on his own in the crib, looked at his parents and clearly said: "Dad, Mom." From that moment he began to learn to speak very quickly.

He graduated from elementary school in London. He was reluctant to study, because he was bored. He learned to read early, at 3 years old. In addition, Glasgow visited Dunard Street School. He felt that he did not fit into the new school, and preferred the company of adults. Liked spending time at home. Perhaps, complexed because of his Scottish accent. But Janice noticed that his son had problems communicating. Therefore, they did their best for their part, so that the child does not become withdrawn.

Gary loved music, but was not interested in seriously playing any of the musical instruments. When he was seven years old, Jane and Wilson, stepfather, recorded the song. Gary in another room "quarreled" with the piano. Suddenly, I heard wonderful classical music. Parents looked into the room and saw how Gary enthusiastically plays the piano. They were delighted, found a music teacher and bought a white piano for his son.

Gary McKinnon sings beautifully, he played in the group Kids & Co, which had to leave because of his inability to adapt and follow the instructions of the mentors.

At Christmas, parents bought Gary the first computer. He was just fascinated by him, he stayed with him for days on end. Then he was 14 years old. While most teens used a computer for the game, he created graphics and wrote programs.

Then, after watching the movie War Games in 1983, in which a hacker "botanist" hacked the Pentagon's computer network, Gary McKinnon began to seek evidence of his other passion, the UFO. Although Gary himself claims that he was inspired by this search for Hugo Cornwell's book The Hacker's Handbook.

How come the hobby of a UFO?

Wilson (the second husband of Janice) lived in Bonnibridge, which is among the top ten places where UFOs are most often observed. And Gary showed great interest in this.

In the late 1990s, Gary McKinnon joined the online community of UFO experts for the Disclosure Project. They collected more than 200 certificates, some of which belong to people who served in the US armed forces. All of them confirm that aliens exist.

"It was not just an interest in little green men and flying saucers," says McKinnon. "I believe that there are spacecraft that the public does not know about."

McKinnon's search for UFO materials on US computers has turned into an obsession.

What did this lead to?

It would seem that such a trivial reason, like searching for a UFO, led to unpredictable consequences. For ten years, Gary McKinnon became an undesirable focus of Anglo-American diplomatic relations.

Paul J. McNulty, then a US attorney in Virginia, announced that the Federal Court in Alexandria, Virginia, Harry was charged. And at the same time he warned that the United States intends to demand its extradition.

Two years later, the US government filed an application for the extradition of Gary, and on June 7, 2005, he was arrested. Extradition to the United States seemed inevitable. And Gary said that he would kill himself to withstand an unfair charge.

And the great battle of the mother began for her only son. Janice Sharp spent the next ten years in a relentless battle to not extradite Gary. The US judicial power has the power of the greatest power in the world. But she could not resist the mother's struggle for her son.

In October 2012, Janice finally won. It was an impressive victory. The story of Gary McKinnon is also a real story of the mother's struggle, which wants to save his son from life behind bars.

The legal battle

We propose a sequence of events:

• 2002, March: Gary McKinnon (photo above) is arrested by the British police.
• 2002, October: Gary is indicted in the states of Virginia and New Jersey USA on seven counts of computer crimes.
• 2005: US authorities begin the process of extradition.
• 2006, May: Magistrate judges ruled that Mr. McKinnon should be extradited.
• 2006, July: Minister of the Interior John Reed signs an order for the extradition of Mr. McKinnon to the United States.
• 2007, April: The High Court in London rejected Mr. McKinnon's lawsuit against extradition.
• 2008, July: by decision of the Lord Judges, McKinnon can be extradited to the United States.
• 2008, August: The European Court of Human Rights stated that it would not hinder the extradition of the hacker.
• 2008, August: McKinnon diagnosed Asperger syndrome.
• 2008, October: Minister of the Interior Jacques Smith gives the go-ahead for extradition.
• 2009, February: The Crown Prosecution Service refuses to file charges against Mr. McKinnon in the UK as an alternative to the US accusation.
• 2009, October: Interior Minister Alan Johnson said that he will study new medical evidence.
• 2010, May: the coalition is re-elected, and the new Home Secretary Teresa May promises to look again at his case.
• 2011, May: Barack Obama, who is on a state visit to the UK, said he would "respect" the British legal process.
• 2012, July: Gary refuses new medical tests.
• 2012, October: Home Secretary Teresa May said that McKinnon will not be extradited.
• 2012, December: The Crown Prosecutor's Office announced that McKinnon will not be charged with any crimes.

McKinnon today

For a long time, while the proceedings were underway, Gary was under house arrest. In addition to the fact that he needed to be observed every day in the police and spend the night at home, he was forbidden to use a computer with access to the Internet.

In fact, Gary McKinnon, already known to many, was left without work. Age and the formation of a "hacker-botanist" also to some extent influenced it. At that time he was about forty years old. I entered the university, but did not finish it. After school he worked as a hairdresser. On the advice of friends, I took courses in programming. He worked as a system administrator, performed contract work related to computer technology and programming. Therefore, for a long time I could not find a job, because everywhere I need the Internet.

Now Gary is engaged in SEO-optimization of sites. He has his own page, where he offers programming, creating and maintaining Internet resources, coding and search engine optimization.

Gary's mother, Janice Sharp, wrote the book Saving Gary McKinnon: A Mother's Story, where she talks about herself, her family, about Gary. In it, she thanks everyone who has been with them all this time. Describes in detail what they had to go through and experience from the very moment when a phone call came to her apartment on March 19, 2002, and his son told her that he had been arrested. Then she said: "We will fight."