A British man appeared in court today over allegations that he hacked into the US military computer system causing damage worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Gary McKinnon, 39, faces extradition to the US over claims that he accessed 97 government computers over a one-year period. District judge Christopher Pratt granted him bail to reappear for an extradition hearing on July 27.
He was ordered to provide £5,000 security, report to his local police station, not to apply for any international travel documents and not to use any computer equipment allowing him to access the internet as bail conditions. "On one instance, the US army"s military district of Washington network became inoperable," Janet Boston, the US government"s lawyer, told Bow Street magistrates" court. In all, his actions caused $700,000 (£370,000) worth of damage, the court was told.