British man in final legal challenge to avoid US extradition

The case of a British man who has been fighting extradition to the US on hacking charges for the past three years is due for judicial review.

The review is Gary McKinnon’s last chance of avoiding extradition after the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith disregarded his recent diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome as having any bearing on the case.  McKinnon hopes to persuade the judge that this decision was unfair. With the failure of appeals to the House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights earlier in 2008, McKinnon is resting his hopes on the oral review in chambers.

McKinnon, a Scot based in London, faces seven counts of hacking into 97 US Government, NASA and military systems during 2001 and 2002.  When arrested in 2002, McKinnon quickly confessed his actions, but denies causing any damage, estimated by the US at $700,000.  Whilst US prosecutors have suggested that McKinnon was mounting the ‘biggest military hack ever’, McKinnon himself maintains he was hunting for evidence about UFO encounters and harvested technology.

Derrick Cameron, Managing Director of IT business advisers Eximium has been following the case. “This is definitely McKinnon’s last stand,” he comments. “As his appeals so far have all failed, it doesn’t look good for the Scot. However, if the case does go to trial, the prosecution will have to prove that he had more sinister intentions – which could be difficult.”

If the review fails and McKinnon stands trial in the US, he faces a likely sentence of around 10 years imprisonment.

Gary McKinnon – Will he be extradited?

There seems that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel for Garry McKinnon, as the saga of whether he will be extradited to the US to face charges of computer hacking continues.

McKinnon has repeatedly resisted attempts to extradite him on the grounds that the offence was committed in the UK and his lawyer, Karen Todner has written to Keir Starmer QC, who is the recently appointed director of public prosecutions, requesting that he be charged under the Misuse of Computers Act. Ms Todner said that her client would plead guilty to the offence, to which he acknowledged his guilt and that proceedings against him could now be brought because there is clear evidence of a crime having been committed.

McKinnon, who is 42, fears for his chances of a fair trial in the US. He is accused of hacking into the US defence and NASA systems in 2001 and 2002 and causing an estimated £525,000 worth of damage. McKinnon denies causing any damage, but admits to hacking into the systems and leaving messages saying “your security is crap”. He lost his appeal against extradition in the House of Lords last year.

McKinnon has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and in a letter to the DPP, his mother, Janis Sharp wrote; “Many people with Asperger’s have a heightened sense of justice and have obsessions, which can sometimes get them into trouble. Gary’s obsession was computers.” The National Autistic Society (NAS) has offered to provide evidence about the diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome, in order to support McKinnon.

McKinnon’s mother said that there were precedents for British based computer hackers to be tried in this country and they have the political support of about 80 MP’s who have signed an early day motion tabled by McKinnon’s MP, David Burrowes.

How to find the right people for your organisation

Be prepared to be flexible, particularly with experience or technical skills.  Soft skills are harder to learn, so be open to interviewing the person with slightly less technical experience if they have all the right soft skills.

Tech spending to drop in 2009

As with all other sectors, the technology industry faces a decline in spending in the current economic climate. A report by Forrester Research expects the decline to be in the region of 3%.

This will be the first decline since 2002, when spending on computer products and consulting dropped by 6%, which followed the same 6% fall as the previous year. Thankfully the Forrester Report does not expect the fall to last long and predicts as much as a 9% rise in 2010.

The Forrester Report says that the strengthening of the US dollar also plays a part in causing the technology downturn, as well as the recession.  Many technology purchases are made in dollars, which meant that the weak dollar boosted the technology growth rate and the now stronger dollar will have the reverse effect. In Western Europe, technology purchases using dollars will be down 7% and purchases using euros will be up 1% in 2009.

We at Eximium believe that good IT systems can save you money and increase productivity in any business sector and improving the efficiency of your IT doesn’t have to be expensive either. Sometimes, a minor change to a system can make a dramatic difference and we recommend that you don’t cut IT spending, without thinking of the benefits you could be getting from it and be prudent with the money you do spend, ensuring that your IT is working effectively for you.

For a free, no obligation consultation to evaluate your existing IT, click the following link;

http://www.eximium.net/factfind.asp

How to find the right people for your organisation

Listen to your gut instincts about people. They are usually right. If someone ticks all the boxes but doesn’t feel quite right somehow, then you are probably picking up some subtle clues you’re not consciously aware of.

‘Fight the Credit Crunch with IT’

As many of you will already know, we created and delivered a series of 6 workshops for EEDA in November, as a key part of their TakeITon development programme.  These FREE seminars were aimed at SME business owners and managers and entitled ‘Fight the Credit Crunch with IT’.  I’m delighted to say that these events went extremely well and the feedback received was very positive

I thoroughly enjoyed delivering these workshops and was greatly encouraged by the fact that 141 delegates attended in total.  98% of the attendees were satisfied with the overall event, which is excellent news.

Due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback received, I’m pleased to announce that EEDA have asked us to run a further 6 dates for this FREE workshop, in other areas of the region.  We are planning the dates at the moment so I will post those once they are confirmed.

Also, I’m delighted to confirm that they have also asked us to develop and present a further 6 FREE workshops as a follow-up to this session, based on the feedback that was provided by delegates.  We are planning the content and dates with them at present and I will announce further details once they are confirmed.

In the meantime, I am running the ‘Fight the Credit Crunch with IT’ workshop at the Basepoint Business & Innovation Centre in Luton, where our office is based, on Thursday 29th January.  If you would like further information, or to book a place on ths FREE seminar, please contact me at the following link:

 http://www.eximium.net/contactus.asp

Alternatively, you can contact the Business Development Manager at the Centre, Heather Pedder, on the following email address: heatherpedder@basepoint.co.uk

How to find the right people for your organisation

Create an accurate job description listing as much information about the role as possible.  This will ensure that there are no surprises for applicants when you tell them about the job.