Who is Gary McKinnon?

May 10, 2006 — -- It has been called the largest-ever attack on the U.S. government, but it wasn't carried out with a bomb or a hijacked aircraft.

Instead, the weapon was a computer.

Now, the British fugitive wanted for the attack has been nudged a step closer to being extradited to the United States for trial.

Gary McKinnon, 40, an admitted computer hacker, has been told by Judge Nicholas Evans that he will be extradited if British Home Secretary John Reid approves. Karen Todner, McKinnon's lawyer, said she will appeal to a higher British court.

McKinnon has been indicted in absentia in New Jersey and northern Virginia on charges of illegally entering 97 computers in 14 states, including civilian and U.S. naval databases, causing $700,000 in damage and disrupting military supply lines.

"Mr. McKinnon is charged with the biggest military computer hack of all time," Paul McNulty, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said at the time of the indictment.

McKinnon has claimed he was looking for information on UFOs, and that he meant no harm. He said he should be thanked for revealing problems with the computer systems he hacked.

"My intention was never to disrupt security. The fact that I logged on and there were no passwords means that there was no security," McKinnon said outside the hearing at London's Bow Street Magistrates Court.

U.S. officials have accused McKinnon of electronically breaking into a system at the Pentagon between February 2001 and March 2002. In New Jersey, McKinnon was accused of hacking into a network of 300 computers at the Earle Naval Weapons Station in Monmouth County, N.J., and stealing 950 passwords.

If convicted, he could face 70 years in prison and a $1.75 million fine.

The computer break-ins, which occurred immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, shut down the weapons station's system for a week, Evans said. The weapons station is responsible for replenishing the Atlantic fleet's munitions and supplies.