Comments on: UFO Various

By: NightFlight

NightFlight — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:44:43 +0000

RPJ, Hopefully McKinnon will get at least 1 computer expert if not at least a computer savvy person on the jury. Because the the charges of Mckinnon making hundreds of sensitive computers inoperative with a dial up connection either proves my point or there be some highly smelly bovine excrement shoveled to the dept. o’ justus!

By: red pill junkie

red pill junkie — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 23:29:06 +0000

Let’s be clear about something: The US is seeking such a high penalty on McKinnon NOT because he hacked into those networks, but because according to them, he erased files and made hundreds of sensitive computers inoperable. Something he has always denied, but can’t prove anymore than he can prove that he saw a photo of a UFO inside those NASA folders.

By: NightFlight

NightFlight — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:07:00 +0000

crgintx, I agree with you that Mckinnon comitted a crime, I can’t see the pentagon making such a big deal out of it. Come on - the pentagon as well as other US government agencies have been hacked and attempted to be hacked into for years. And this guy was using dial up to do it. Our gov’t has known for years that as long as there is a way in to their computers, the public at large is going to try to get in. Supposedly they have the best in firewalls, intruder detection and know when something is amiss with their system. I just can’t fault the pentagon for crying over this! They knew better and have known for YEARS! What did Mckinnon do that was different from any other hacker that got into the pentagon’s computers? Other than he got got caught?
Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me!

By: red pill junkie

red pill junkie — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:04:12 +0000

“Hacking into a gov’t computer is no less a crime than breaking into your house. Would you let someone get away with that?”

No, but I sure would fire my maid if I discovered the reason the “burglars” (e.g. some moron kids looking for cookies) entered my home was because she forgot to turn on the costly alarm system I installed, left all the doors and windows open, and left the keys right on top of the “Welcome” mat

By: crgintx

crgintx — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:57:28 +0000

I’m going to take the rare position and play gov’t advocate here. McKinnon broke the law and worse got caught doing it. He’s a dumbass stoner who wasn’t trying to reveal gov’t coverup about UFO’s, he was just trying to break into private data for his own shits and giggles. While the Rainbow Brite crowd may think that gov’t’s shouldn’t have secrets, as a former military member, let me assure you that there are real evil folks out there in the wider world who don’t give a damn about human rights and other social niceties who’d exploit anyone they could to further their agenda. I’ve dealt with quite a few folk who aren’t in any gov’t who would gladly burn you and your family at the stake for merely disagreeing with their religious or political philosophy. Does our military and intelligence agencies need to keep these folk from knowing their capabilities and weaknesses? IMHO Absolutely! I don’t agree with the current gov’t position of labeling McKinnon a terrorist but he is a criminal who needs to be punished. Cybercrime is now reaching the stage where it is both more costly and potentially destructive than conventional crime. Hacking into a gov’t computer is no less a crime than breaking into your house. Would you let someone get away with that?

By: Nick Redfern

Nick Redfern — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:13:35 +0000

Thanks Ben, I’ve completed quite a lot of the writing for the abductiob book, for publication next year.

By: BenDoverEsq.

BenDoverEsq. — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:03:46 +0000

Hey Nick, I just listened to your interview on Shadows in the Dark. Great interview by the way. Anyway, that idea you had for a book dealing with abductions sounds fascinating.

By: red pill junkie

red pill junkie — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:59:10 +0000

I agree Sage, the people who maintain those networks in such poorly secure conditions should be accountable for.

Unless… well, it’s a possibility that we’ve discussed on some other occasions here, and it’s infused by things like this:

“He says he came across many other hackers in the supposedly secure systems, many with Chinese and Russian internet addresses. Since his exploits were exposed, consecutive government reports have confirmed that the US military’s computer systems remain poorly protected.”

The conspiranoid in me sometimes think guys like McKinnon were SUPPOSED to break into these systems to get access and read what could be disinformation. Maybe those networks are merely a frontline designed to deceive gullible hackers who would find what they want to read —ET is here— and stop searching for the really sensitive information.

Who knows? In the meantime McKinnon’s fate will be decided tomorrow.

By: The_Sage

The_Sage — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:19:21 +0000

On one hand I am rooting for Gary. The government has no constitutional right to keep secrets — at least not for very long. This is supposed to be a government of the people, for the people, and by the people, and not a government of the government, for the government, and by the government.

Unless all the computers Gary hacked into had message of the day banners stating that logging into their computers was unauthorized, Gary had implied permission to be on them. Considering how incompetently the USA security was portrayed, I’m sure this was one of many elementary security policies that was not enforced or realized. There are hackers that have been pardoned because of failure to follow this policy (a famous case involving CISCO routers comes to mind).

There is no difference between leaving a computer unprotected in your office as there is in leaving your laptop powered on and logged in on a park bench in the middle of Russia. Who is responsible for what happens to the computer in that case: the person who finds the computer or the person who lost the computer in the first place due to negligence? Viewing top secret information is not a crime so when Gary found all these computers just lying around, ripe for the picking, there was no real crime. The real criminals where the people who left their computers lying around knowing they had something worth protecting on them but did nothing to protect them.

On the other hand, it would be nice to have seen copies of what Gary took and judge them for myself, but Gary had only one copy in an unsafe location and it was confiscated during a raid. Why should I believe anything Gary says, since once again, all we have is a case of all talk and no evidence. Stupid, stupid, stupid!…and stupidity should not be rewarded.

To all you wanna be hacker’s out there, do not do what every hacker in history that has been caught has done — FAIL TO MAKE BACKUPS OF YOUR PLUNDER, FOR LATER DISSEMINATION! Then we might have a little more sympathy for your case.

By: drew hempel

drew hempel — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:36:37 +0000

“end of mystery” — well it may have been a “vulcan” that was seen but the big black triangles have NO nose cone, nor fuselage — they’re what they are: equilateral triangles. I know because I saw one too close for comfort. She says she saw a triangle but maybe after everyone insists she saw a Vulcan and the official response is that it was a Vulcan then she thinks she saw a Vulcan. Not the end of the mystery.