Some might argue that the U.S. doesn’t really have a great track record in respecting the human rights of foreign nationals, at least that is what was argued by the lawyers of Gary McKinnon, the Briton who found himself busted for hacking into the Pentagon, the U.S. Army, Navy and NASA in what has been described as “the biggest military hack of all time.”

McKinnon was allegedly looking for evidence of extraterrestrial life, instead he found himself a whole lot of trouble (sorry, too much World’s Greatest Police Videos for one day), and is now facing a fine of up to $1.75 million and up to 70 years in prison. In the course of McKinnon’s hack, it is alleged that he caused approximately $700,000 worth of damage, but if you ask me, they should be thanking the guy and not punishing him. All in the search for proof of extraterrestrial life, which McKinnon claims that he found but lost, forgot to print or [insert lame excuse here].

McKinnon was able to hack into the computers through windows vulnerabilities using his home computer and scan the networks using off-the-shelf software. If a private citizen is able to do that, just imagine what level of penetration an agent for a hostile government, with an endless budget and a thirst for U.S. government knowledge might have been able to obtain. It is through these exposed weaknesses that better security measures are developed.

I don’t think he will get the full 70 years, but poor Gary McKinnon is likely to be sentenced to a good deal of hard time. [Reuters]

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