Click here to support the Daily Grail for as little as $US1 per month on Patreon

UFO Hacker Wikileaked

While governments around the world have been busily condemning the latest round of document releases by Wikileaks, there have been other facets which have escaped the news spotlight thus far. For instance, one of the leaked documents mentions the extradition case of Gary ‘UFO Hacker’ McKinnnon, and makes clear that even the Prime Minister had approached the U.S. about keeping McKinnon in England.

The leaked document dates to October 2009, and is an internal document from the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton – described as a ‘scenesetter’ for her upcoming visit to meet with then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The document mentions that Brown had already approached the Ambassador about the McKinnon case in August, and so was likely to bring it up again during Secretary Clinton’s visit:

— Gary McKinnon Extradition Case –

The PM will likely raise with the Secretary (as he has with the Ambassador) the extradition case of Gary McKinnon. McKinnon is a 43-year old computer hacker with Asperger’s Syndrome who is wanted for prosecution in the U.S.; he is accused of hacking into U.S. government systems in 2001 and 2002. McKinnon has gained enormous popular sympathy in his appeal against extradition; the UK’s final decision is pending. The case has also caused public criticism of the U.S.-UK extradition treaty. In August, PM Brown, in a one-on-one meeting with the Ambassador, proposed a deal: that McKinnon plead guilty, make a statement of contrition, but serve any sentence of incarceration in the UK. Brown cited deep public concern that McKinnon, with his medical condition, would commit suicide or suffer injury in imprisoned in a U.S. facility. The Ambassador has raised this proposal with AG Holder and would be happy to brief the Secretary in more detail.

Interesting to see that the case was discussed at such a high level. Although, given that Gary McKinnon is currently still in the United Kingdom, maybe the Prime Minister of the place might consider that he could just tell the U.S. Ambassador how things are going to play out.

Previously on TDG:

Editor
  1. No sympathy
    I really don’t have a lot of sympathy for McKinnon and I’m not sure I buy the Asperger’s Syndrome excuse either.

    But I am biased, too, because I have had my computer hacked, my bank account raped and my identity hijacked. I don’t see how breaking into someone else’s digital property is anything but a crime equivalent to burglary and theft.

    And yes, prison is a tough place because it is supposed to be. You don’t get locked away so you can lounge about in the sun or catch the latest from Hollywood at the corner cinema. It is designed to be an unhappy experience so there will be a lesson learned.

    But much of this is lost in social politics and nationalist pride. Mr. McKinnon is an Englishman and as such, this is being reworked into a modern day version of Les Miserables.

    The issue is lost as the debate rages about national borders. And I do suppose that this is exactly what Mr. McKinnon and his defense team were aiming for.

    This is no longer about right and wrong. It’s become a political play for the flag-waving masses.

  2. Exclusion of the “U” word
    Isn’t it interesting that the document never uses or mentions the word “UFO”?

    Was the ambassador so sure that Clinton would be knowledgeable of Mckinnon’s case and motivations? In all likelihood no; then again, there have been rumors that Hillary and her husband have always been interested in the phenomenon.

  3. Tip of the Iceberg…
    Another point to consider in all this is perptrators of any type of crime are never guilty of just the one event they are busted for. By the time you get a speeding ticket you’ve likely sped thousands of times. This applies to virtually every crime: drug dealing, pedophilia, theft, you name it – it’s never just the one event. So clearly McKinnon honed his skills over years – how much damage did he do during that time, how many people’s identity or money did he steal? He is made out to be a hero because he went up against the U.S. Government however who did he invade previously?…

    1. Hmmm
      So the idea is to punish Mckinnon not only for the crime he’s currently charged with, but for all the many other Machiavellian felonies he might have committed… maybe?

      1. Isn’t this like “breaking and
        Isn’t this like “breaking and entering” but not really stealing anything of much importance? What is the sentence for someone who breaks into a house but only steals some shoes and a wristwatch? Why are digital doorways being treated differently? Did this guy actually steal “data” that amounted to anything at all?

        1. Any valuables in the house
          The US government pretty much tried to pull off a Homer:

          Insurance Guy: Any valuables in the house?
          Homer: Well, the Picasso, my collection of classic cars–
          Insurance Guy: Sorry, this policy only covers actual losses, not made-up stuff.
          Homer: Well that’s just great!

        2. breaking and entering
          So you break into my house and don’t find the diamond collection. The Picasso is in a frame that is too big for your truck, so you just take the $5.28 on the kitchen table.

          Is this now a legal because it was only $5.28? How about $5.37?

          Seems to me the breaking and entering part is not the same offence as the theft.

          1. No, man
            The problem is when a guy breaks into your house, takes your VCR collection of “Hot Latina Mamacitas” that you’ve been keeping since 1988; but then instead you go and tell the police and the insurance guy that he took a plasma 60″ 3D flatscreen, an XBOX 360 and your entire imported BluRay collection of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

          2. duality
            Well, there would be two problems then.

            There would be the false statement by the owner of the stolen VCR tapes, and there would still be the act of breaking into the house with the intent of stealing the Picasso.

          3. Agreed
            We are actually in agreement. I’ve always reiterated that Gary deserves punishment for what he did.

            A fair punishment.

          4. It could be done…

            “I’ve always reiterated that Gary deserves punishment for what he did.

            A fair punishment.”

            I, too, could close with that statement… and what a more fitting plate of justice than for Mr. McKinnon to spend a few years of his life helping to identify and nab other hackers who make life so wretched for the cyber community?

            I mean, under the oversight of the courts and perhaps, at least initially, from the confines of a small cell. This could be accomplished in the US or the UK as long as authorities from both jurisdictions had the right to observe the behavior, treatment and benefits of such a sentence.

            The web is like the old wild, wild west. Even now, almost three decades since the internet became so openly and affordably accessible, it is still a dangerous neighborhood out there. The outlaws still own the virtual streetscapes.

            Sometimes, it takes a thief to catch a thief.

  4. It is really sort of
    It is really sort of laughable that the encryption for these supposedly high security sites is so porous. If McKinnion hacked them then what are the odds that they have been hacked by people in a position to do something really bad with what they have seen? If anything, McKinnion has dome these folks a favor by showing them where an exploit was.

    It is the same with the Wikileaks brouhaha. If dipomatic cables are that easy to hack then you can bet they have already been compromised by the people most interested in their content. Here we have Obama warning people about what they say on the internet, yet the government is acting all surpised and miffed that its dipolmatic communications are getting hacked. Methinks they are mostly acting here, and I also think the conspiracy theory that the Mossad et al is using Wikileaks to discredit Iran in various ways or boost Israel’s image may have some merit. There are a million games to play with this kind of information, and often it is the people howling most loudly who are the real players of the game.

  5. hi, grow a conscience
    Clearly this site has a lot of morally inept degenerate dead beats going by a lot of pathetic self rightious comments!

    Gary McKinnon has already suffered enough unfair punishment over this garbage.. its only the cretinous self loathing ignorant dumb fucks who actually want to see him pushed through even more ofthe inJustice scum system, while the rest of parasites including double dipping politicians, lawyers, judges and the rest of scumbags drag this shit out longer for their own money and power gains.

    Frankly there should be no fucking secrets from the likes of government and affiliated tax siphoning parasites like NASA. There security was a fucking non existent joke, Gary was not some uber elite hacker. Franky if cretinous little shits are scared about hackers and little drone dumb fucks stealing your money and snooping at your data, look no further than that police state/secret scumbaggery you’ve allowed to be built up all around you while the Banking elite and law parasites run it. Those are the legally protected criminals scum fucks who work counter productive jobs, and constantly fucking LIE to you, through your useless controlled lamestream media liars.

    Wake up, grow a fucking conscience! And start scrutinize the agenda of all those little scumfucks who harp on about wanting more punishment and misery for those who do petty crimes. Your scum government, injustice scum system, police state parasite drones, etc etc are far bigger criminals! Fair punishment is what Gary McKinnon has already gone through over the years of this stupid ass shit. Sending him to another country away from his family. Crusader predator parasites with hindden agendas in supprting their counter productive jobs, and scum fuck liars preaching about national security and wanting to keep secrets from the public, need to fucking die off, they are a menace to a sane society.

    1. Welcome to the Grail
      Welcome to the Grail deadbeats.

      In here you’ll find a haven for intelligent discussion and civil arguments.

      Part of the reason of our success, it’s because we do not condone the use –or rather, abuse— of offensive language in the comments of the members. One effing here and there is fine, but to keep using them over and over, might seem to some as a hint to a limited vocabulary on the part of the poster.

      I hope you keep this in mind next time you decide to contribute.

      Saludos.

      1. Diplomacy
        Your grace and tact here is admirable, RPJ. Really.

        *sigh*

        I’m still coming down off last night’s football game and winding up for another one here in about 30 minutes.

        That’s my excuse… and I’m sticking to it.

        PS – I still love deadbeats’ vocabulary. Reminds me of being in a Joe-bar in downtown Columbia, SC…

    2. I stand corrected

      “Clearly this site has a lot of morally inept degenerate dead beats going by a lot of pathetic self rightious comments!

      Wake up, grow a fucking conscience! And start scrutinize the agenda of all those little scumfucks who harp on about wanting more punishment and misery for those who do petty crimes. Your scum government, injustice scum system, police state parasite drones, etc etc are far bigger criminals! Fair punishment is what Gary McKinnon has already gone through over the years of this stupid ass shit.”

      Hot damn! What a dandy lexicon! I am really impressed and have now changed my mind. I no longer think that hackers are criminals. In fact, I think I will share all my passwords and CC numbers on Face Book so they can have swim in my bank account and play happy with my identity.

      Heck, my family won’t mind losing everything. It is Christmas, after all.

      Thank you for setting me straight. Hackers don’t break the law. Only their victims do.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Mobile menu - fractal