Clueless or cunning -  it’s hard to tell with Gary McKinnon. Pavla Tolonen weighs out all the elements.

The ever-important task of changing your passwords regularly may seem tedious, but this delicate task could easily be the most important thing you do in terms of online security - especially if you are the US government.

After being arrested in Britain in 2002, indicted for eight computer-related crimes in the US, and losing several British and European High Court appeals, Glasgow-born Londoner Gary McKinnon may now face a 70-year prison sentence for hacking into US government intelligence.

The 43-year-old, who has Asperger’s syndrome, claimed he was looking for the truth about Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), and could not resist the temptation of breaking into US governmental files after discovering clear loopholes in their security system. Many officials, he said, had simply ignored the need to change their default passwords – a classic rookie mistake.

McKinnon told the BBC in 2005: “I found out that the US military use Windows and having realised this, I assumed it would probably be an easy hack if they hadn’t secured it properly.” More recently he said he was on a “moral crusade”, leaving messages behind insulting the US security system. Clearly he was not concerned about disguising himself as he used his personal email address.

The US government has cited $800,000 (£487,000) worth of damage occurred between 2001 and 2002 because of McKinnon’s hacking – a figure which he disputes. The American authorities are particularly sensitive about the time proximity of the breech to the 11 September 2001 New York bombings.

McKinnon’s Asperger’s syndrome, a rare form of autism comprising of an obsessive nature and naivety regarding logical thinking, like consequential thinking, has been keenly noted by the press. Celebrities such as Trudy Styler and Sting have protested for his release on the grounds of him not being able to cope with prison like a “normal” person.

Although McKinnon has lost his final appeal against extradition, campaigners speaking on his behalf say Home Secretary Alan Johnson could use his clout with the American officials to influence the outcome. Johnson has denied this possibility, saying that this would be against the US-UK extradition laws. He’s probably right, as long as he can guarantee McKinnon will not be tried as a terrorist.

A website demanding he be tried in Britain, instead of the US, where his family and friends believe he will be treated like a terrorist and possibly sentenced for 70 years in prison, has been set up as www.freegary.org.uk. The Home Secretary told The Daily Telegraph that McKinnon would clearly not serve any sentence in a “supermax” prison.

Image credit: www.freegary.org.uk