British alien hunter set to be extradited.

[Angus Young]

Don't know if this is big news in the States but a man suffering with a condition called aspergers is set to be sent from Britain to America to stand trial. His crime? The man hacked into Pentagon and NASA computers to try and find evidence of alien landings.
How do the Americans on the board feel about an average member of Joe Public being able to access what should be the most secure computer system in the world? Also should America put this guy in jail or give him a job?

 

[ouch]

Simple- shoot him.

 

[chainfire]

All really sensative stuff on government computers are on closed networks and would require more access and knowledge to break into than any average person would have. It's a cute publicity stunt to make it seem like the US is 'doing' something to secure itself and this poor guy got caught in the web.

OTOH, ouch makes a compelling point.... Shoot him.

 

[luvmysuper]

Don't know if this is big news in the States but a man suffering with a condition called aspergers is set to be sent from Britain to America to stand trial. His crime? The man hacked into Pentagon and NASA computers to try and find evidence of alien landings.
How do the Americans on the board feel about an average member of Joe Public being able to access what should be the most secure computer system in the world? Also should America put this guy in jail or give him a job?

Aspergers is a form of Autism, marked by language, social and motor skill deficiencies.

It has nothing to do with his computer abilities, and in fact many Autistic people have tremendous abilities in areas not directly affected by their condition. Savantism is not uncommon, so I'd hardly call him an average member of Joe Public.

He obviously possesses the skills necessary to hack into some of the most secure systems in the world, though we may never know just to what level he was able to penetrate.

He broke the law and should have a fair and speedy trial. If found guilty he should be incarcerated for the appropriate period as determined by the sentencing phase of his trial.

If found innocent, I would assume that there were circumstances which mitigated the charges against him, perhaps an inability to socially recognize that what he did was wrong, or perhaps that he was not able to penetrate the system security beyond a given level.

In either case his employability would be suspect.

 

[Angus Young]

The thing is; this guy wasn't actually in America when he broke American law. The employment question was because if this guy has a talent for getting into computer systems. Then surely he could be an asset to intelligence agencies.

Aspergers is a form of Autism, marked by language, social and motor skill deficiencies.

It has nothing to do with his computer abilities, and in fact many Autistic people have tremendous abilities in areas not directly affected by their condition. Savantism is not uncommon, so I'd hardly call him an average member of Joe Public.

He obviously possesses the skills necessary to hack into some of the most secure systems in the world, though we may never know just to what level he was able to penetrate.

He broke the law and should have a fair and speedy trial. If found guilty he should be incarcerated for the appropriate period as determined by the sentencing phase of his trial.

If found innocent, I would assume that there were circumstances which mitigated the charges against him, perhaps an inability to socially recognize that what he did was wrong, or perhaps that he was not able to penetrate the system security beyond a given level.

In either case his employability would be suspect.

 

[valmara1971]

Being both in the Uk and having dealings with autism I feel more than qualified to comment. Ouch, I don't know if you were joking with your comment I would hope so as you don't strike me as narrow minded in any way. As others have mentioned he may not be able to differentiate between right or wrong. Also he may genuienly believe he was correct in his action trying to uncover evidence of aliens. If he believes this action is just then he will not have any concept of wrongdoing whatsoever. The question is not did he break the law that is a no brainer he did big time. The question for a judge and jury to decide is the level of responsibility he has for his actions. Life isn't black and white I'm afraid but many many shades of grey.

 

[luvmysuper]

The thing is; this guy wasn't actually in America when he broke American law. The employment question was because if this guy has a talent for getting into computer systems. Then surely he could be an asset to intelligence agencies.

There are many laws that extend beyond National Borders. This is but one of them.

If he broke this law knowing it was an offense, then he has no respect for rule and order and is a poor employee choice.

If he broke this law not knowing it was an offense, then he lacks social awareness and is a poor employee choice.

Possession of a particular skill set, in and of itself, is poor criteria to use for employee selection. John Wayne Gacy, by all accounts, was a wonderful party Clown. He would however have been a poor choice for some kids Birthday Party.

 

[MMCCX]

i'd be interested to see the psych evaluation. i have three people in my extended social group with Aspberger's. two use it as an excuse to be complete a**holes and not be responsible for their actions, while the third has gone to great lengths and effort to work past it and is very successful in his field and daily life.

if he knew it was wrong, and did it anyway, turn him over to the Feds.

 

[blackfoot]

Cobb: We're gonna give you a fair trial, followed by a first class hanging.


Am I the only one that has not heard about this?

 

[chainfire]

Am I the only one that has not heard about this?

I really never heard about it either. But I still stand by my earlier snap judgement. This all just seems like posturing by the US to give the appearance of being proactive. Unless things have completely changed, no real 'secrets' exist on the internet...esp. public sites.

At most, you could probably crack into the websites (which are basically public anyway) and mail systems (which are only for unclassified info).

It's impressive to hack for sure, but nothing on the internet is completely secure, thus my doubt that even given full access to these sites he found any info of use to anyone.

 

[blackfoot]

I really never heard about it either. But I still stand by my earlier snap judgement. This all just seems like posturing by the US to give the appearance of being proactive. Unless things have completely changed, no real 'secrets' exist on the internet...esp. public sites.

At most, you could probably crack into the websites (which are basically public anyway) and mail systems (which are only for unclassified info).

It's impressive to hack for sure, but nothing on the internet is completely secure, thus my doubt that even given full access to these sites he found any info of use to anyone.

I tend to agree with you. There is plenty of classified information even in the lower levels, I'd bet. But nothing too serious. Then again, what do I know?

 

[mmack66]

I haven't heard anything about it. Did he find any info about alien landings?

 

[blackfoot]

I haven't heard anything about it. Did he find any info about alien landings?

I am sure he was not able to break into that security level.