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| Supporters of Gary McKinnon on the internet
campaigned for him not to be extradited. |
IT security and control firm Sophos has revealed that less than
half of IT professionals believe that if found guilty, NASA hacker
Gary McKinnon should be sent to a US jail for his crimes.
McKinnon looks set to be extradited to the US to face trial for
allegedly hacking into computers belonging to the US Army, US Air
Force, Department of Defense and NASA, having lost his
appeal to remain in the UK earlier this week. The Sophos poll
shows that 48% of respondents feel jail is the most appropriate
sentence for McKinnon, should he be found guilty, with 42%
suggesting a sentence of community service, and just 10% answering
that McKinnon should be fined.
The closely contested poll echoes a previous Sophos survey back
in July 2006 regarding whether or not McKinnon should be
extradited, which saw a near 50/50 split between respondents - 48%
were in favour of extradition, with 52% against.
"The IT community can't seem to agree about what would be an
appropriate punishment in this case, quite possibly because it's
still unclear about how much damage Gary McKinnon is alleged to
have caused, as well as the motivations behind the alleged crime,"
said Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "Irrespective
of where he is tried, let's hope that if McKinnon is found guilty,
it will be based on reliable evidence, and that he will be
sentenced appropriately for the offences he is alleged to have
committed."
In addition to the new results, Sophos received a wide range of
viewpoints from those polled expressing their opinion on McKinnon's
plight.
Responses included:
'Breaking into any country's military computers is
treason. Isn't treason punishable by death in most countries?'
'We need to set precedence with these criminals and
prosecute them to the fullest... I say let him do at least 10 years
in prison.'
'The Pentagon should hire this bloke rather than
punish him for finding weaknesses in the defence force
systems.'
'Some of the potential sentences sound far too
extreme, but it doesn't change the fact that hacking into US
military computers is an unbelievably stupid thing to do, and
always likely to have severe consequences.'
'With the chance of getting caught being slim, the
penalty must be so severe that no one in their right mind would run
the risk. And lets not stop there. If convicted, they should not be
allowed to go back into the business as a white hat hacker. What do
I consider a severe penalty? A minimum of 20 years without chance
of parole. Life in prison if the hacker is proved to be a
botmaster.'
"A strong message needs to be sent out to hackers that their
illegal actions will not go unpunished, but appropriate sentences
need to be handed out based on the severity of the crimes - some of
the system administrators we polled seem to be so sick to the back
teeth with hackers that they've said they're keen to have McKinnon
executed, which seems something of an over-reaction," continued
Cluley. "It's important for computer users to remember that while
hacking should never be condoned, there is a difference between
oddballs that don't appear to have engaged in hacking activities
for financial gain, and hardened criminal gangs who are having an
impact on businesses and consumers across the globe."
Sophos recommends companies automatically update their corporate
virus protection, and run a consolidated
solution to defend against malware, spyware, hackers and
spam.
* Sophos online survey, 240 respondents, April
2007.
Disclaimer: Please bear in mind that this poll is not
scientific and is provided for information purposes only. Sophos
makes no guarantees about the accuracy of the results other than
that they reflect the choices of the users who participated.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.