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Hacker Indictment

Aired November 12, 2002 - 13:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We are waiting to hear more from federal officials about a big case that has been cracked involving an international hacker that used his computer to attack U.S. military installations.
CNN's Kelli Arena already has some early information on this story.

Kelli, what do you know?

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What I can tell you is that U.S. Officials have indicted Gary McKinnon. He is a British citizen. And he allegedly hacked into more than 90 non-classified U.S. government systems, mostly military, over the past year and a half. They include systems that belonged to the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense. Justice officials say that the hacking was serious due to those targets and the number of systems hit, and they are seeking his extradition from Britain.

It's not clear at this point what McKinnon's motivation was, although government officials that I spoke to have ruled out terrorism or a business motivation. They suggest it may have been recreational hacking. McKinnon, by the way, is unemployed. He's a former computer systems administrator.

Now one of the most serious disruptions occurring in the weeks following September 11th, at the Earl Naval weapons station in New Jersey. Prosecutors say it's entire network of 300 computers were shut down for an entire week.

And in Virginia, McKinnon is not only charged with breaking into military systems, but with intruding into private company networks as well. So that's what we know. We're told there will be a press conference at 2:00 with even more details. We'll bring them to you when we get them.

SAVIDGE: Kelli Arena, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 12, 2002 - 13:24   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We are waiting to hear more from federal officials about a big case that has been cracked involving an international hacker that used his computer to attack U.S. military installations.
CNN's Kelli Arena already has some early information on this story.

Kelli, what do you know?

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What I can tell you is that U.S. Officials have indicted Gary McKinnon. He is a British citizen. And he allegedly hacked into more than 90 non-classified U.S. government systems, mostly military, over the past year and a half. They include systems that belonged to the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Department of Defense. Justice officials say that the hacking was serious due to those targets and the number of systems hit, and they are seeking his extradition from Britain.

It's not clear at this point what McKinnon's motivation was, although government officials that I spoke to have ruled out terrorism or a business motivation. They suggest it may have been recreational hacking. McKinnon, by the way, is unemployed. He's a former computer systems administrator.

Now one of the most serious disruptions occurring in the weeks following September 11th, at the Earl Naval weapons station in New Jersey. Prosecutors say it's entire network of 300 computers were shut down for an entire week.

And in Virginia, McKinnon is not only charged with breaking into military systems, but with intruding into private company networks as well. So that's what we know. We're told there will be a press conference at 2:00 with even more details. We'll bring them to you when we get them.

SAVIDGE: Kelli Arena, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com