Analysis of Gary McKinnon - UK Hacker - Case Study Example

Case Study Gary McKinnon - UK Hacker Introduction Cybercrime has become one of the most dangerous threats for every nation across the globe. According to security experts of public and private sectors, the cyber security programs of the United States of America are at a state of risk because of modern and sophisticated techniques used by criminals that are difficult to detect. Hackers in the modern world pose the greatest threat towards valuable and highly sensitive information of a nation or an individual. The famous hacker of United Kingdom, Gary McKinnon was accused of one of the biggest cybercrimes in the year 2002. McKinnon intruded the secured computer system of NASA and the Department of Defense of United States of America. This research paper is based on the severity of crime McKinnon committed and the risks involved in cybercrime. Case Analysis Gary McKinnon is accused of penetrating more than 90 Pentagon systems that were unclassified. In the year 2001 and 2002, he committed the crime of crashing some of the systems (Brenner, 2010). This was an international cybercrime. United States of America demanded his trial in the United States high court. Penetrating the United States defense system was one of the biggest crimes during the period. Therefore, McKinnon’s trial in United States was a valid request made by the nation. Gary McKinnon admitted the hacking by mentioning that he was searching for evidence of UFO. He expected that the information might be hidden in the Army computers. The consequence was similar to a terrorist activity. Another incident occurred during the period in NASA. McKinnon was held accountable for it. McKinnon was also accused of intruding NASA’s system and it was completely unethical to access the information of a different country’s scientific progressions (Johnson, 2013). According to Gary McKinnon, he was innocent and he just wanted to check some information by penetrating the systems of United States but on these grounds he could not be left without a fair trial (Kirwan, 2013). According to the court of justice, the activity of McKinnon was not less than a crime. McKinnon argued in his favor that his intentions were not wrong. The motivation behind his activity was to obtain specific information for the welfare of people. His motivation behind the hacking activity was to obtain evidence of suppression of free energy, antigravity and UFO’s. After his statements on 9th May 2001, he was able to gather many supporters who believed that he should not be sent for trial in the court of United States and he should be kept in United Kingdom for continuation against his judgment (Hess, 2006). According to McKinnon, the computer misuse did not matter because it was his ability to crack the security code and gather circumstantial evidences that could bring significant information for scientific developments in United Kingdom. On the other hand, a senior officer of US military informed The Sunday Telegraph that “Someone was planning very serious attack on United States computer systems” at the Pentagon (Wall, 2007). McKinnon’s criminal activity formed a platform for other hackers and he could become a role-model for other hackers across the globe if he would not have been punished. Hence, it can be said that, McKinnon’s extradition was an essential step and it became one of the most crucial judgments in the year 2003 (Curtis, 2011). The efforts to extradite McKinnon to United States are important precedent in prosecuting international cybercrimes. McKinnon’s case was thoroughly studied in different courts and by home minister before the final decision was made. In November 2002, Gary McKinnon was interrogated by federal jury in Virginia. After the trial, he was held accountable for seven cybercrimes. Each of the crimes had a potential of ten-year jail sentence. McKinnon was tried in United Kingdom frequently. However, he lived with liberty until the year 2005 (Sharp, 2013). McKinnon had a fear that if he was extradited to the United States and charged, he might have to face 70 years jail sentence in very unfavorable conditions. McKinnon appealed before the House of Lords to be tried in the United Kingdom high court. The extradition appeal was rejected by Lord Brown stating that United States was a similar country as the United Kingdom and the trial process would be held under the same circumstances. Previously, United Kingdom had made extradition arrangements for other criminals in foreign countries and there were not much difference found in the legal systems of foreign states. McKinnon made further attempts before the European Court of Human Rights against the extradition. However, the appeal was rejected after verifying the severity of crime committed by McKinnon. On 23rd January 2009, the High Court permitted McKinnon to apply for judicial analysis against the extradition (Maras, 2014). However, McKinnon lost the appeal in High Court on 31st July 2009. McKinnon’s legal team applied for a review to the Home Secretary on medical grounds. Home Secretary announced on 16th October 2012 that, extradition of McKinnon should be blocked because he might have risk towards ending his life. McKinnon was diagnosed for autism spectrum disorder. These circumstances definitely helped McKinnon from being extradited to United States prison. Cyber-crime and remedies to prevent them Cyber-crime refers to the criminal activity that involves network and computer. Cyber-crime is performed by an individual or a group of people with a clear motive to harm another person physically or mentally by direct or indirect interference. In the modern world due to enhancement of technology the rate of cyber-crime has increased to the maximum level (Chambliss, 2011). Computer programmers and hackers use modern telecommunication network to perform these activities. The procedure of hacking involves implementation of algorithms, which are small or long programs used to penetrate a secured system or web-site. One of the oldest algorithms is the Brute Force algorithm, which includes several trial and error methods for port hacking procedures. Cyber-crime has become a big concern for people because it may threaten a nation’s financial health and security. The following steps can be implied to avoid cyber-crimes according to the NIST Cyber-security Framework. The NIST framework It is organized by five continuous functions. The first step is to identify the management of cyber-security risks to data, assets, systems and capabilities (PWC, 2014). The second most important step is to protect the assets or determine the cyber-security threats. Protection of necessary data reduces the chances of threat and increases the safety of information. The third most important step is to Detect by monitoring real-time alerts during the occurrence of any cyber-security related events. The fourth step is to respond towards any cyber-security incidents. This mitigates the chances of cyber-crimes. The final step is to recover the information after blocking a cyber-breach so that business continuity remains active. These are the essential five steps that must be performed on a continuous manner in order to limit the chances of cyber-crime in the society. Conclusion From the above research and analysis, it is clear that cyber-crimes are very dangerous because it not only involves threat to a person but also causes threat to an entire nation. The criminal activity of Gary McKinnon shows that the chances of national threat and terrorism are very high for any country in the world. The intrusion by Gary McKinnon did not cause much harm to United States systems but if he would do this with wrong intensions, then the situations would have been worse. Gary McKinnon’s medical condition saved him from being extradited to United States. In order to reduce the chances of cyber-crime, proper initiatives must be adopted introducing appropriate security measures. The consequences of cyber-crime are very dangerous because it can cause loss of monetary and important information. Hence it can be concluded that continuous monitoring and timely action is required to prevent similar incidents in the future. References Brenner, W. S. (2010). Cybercrime: Criminal threats from cyberspace. New York: ABC-CLIO. Chambliss, J. W. (2011). Crime and criminal behavior. London: Sage. Curtis, G. (2011). The law of cybercrimes and their investigations. London: CRC Press. Hess, K. (2009). Criminal investigation. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Johnson, M. (2013). Cybercrime, security and digital intelligence. London: Gower Publishing. Kirwan, G. (2013). Cybercrime: The psychology of online offenders. London: Cambridge University Press. Maras, M. (2014). Computer Forensics. London: Jones & Bartlett. PWC. (2014). US cybercrime: Rising risks, reduced readiness. Retrieved from: . Sharp, J. (2013). Saving Gary McKinnon. New York: Biteback. Wall, D. (2007). Cybercrime: The transformation of crime in the information age. New York: Polity. Read More