The Observer Magazine has an interview with Gary McKinnon
Some extracts (not the whole thing, for copyright reasons):
Gary McKinnonHacker, 41, London
Interview by Stephen Emms
Sunday April 22, 2007
The ObserverI was a man obsessed. I spent two and a half grand in dial-up charges trying to get into the US military systems, eight hours a day, every day, over the course of a year. At first it didn't feel like addiction, but later I wouldn't even bother washing or getting dressed.
Sometimes there were 70 other hackers from around the world looking at the same screen as me. I used to check them out and see IP addresses from Turkey, China, Holland, all over.
Change your password every month. Make it complicated but easy to remember. When I scanned thousands of machines on one particular military network, there were always a few hundred with blank passwords, and once you're on one, you use 'trust' to speak to another.
Towards the end I'd become sloppy. I'd have a six-pack and a few spliffs, and was borderline megalomaniacal.
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I was charged seven times, with 10 years' imprisonment on each. The most serious accusation was 'bringing down the entire military network of Washington'.
[...[
Hearing that the New Jersey Authorities want to see me 'fry' was like having a 17-tonne hammer waiting to hit me on the head.
I fear going to prison for 60 years. I'm terrified of being raped, and sitting there with paedophiles and murderers.
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I believe in UFOs. They were my reason for hacking. As a kid my stepdad would tell me stories of how he saw one in Bonnybridge, near Falkirk, the UFO capital of the world.
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I'm a techno-luddite now. I can't access my own email address. Other people do it for me.
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My advice to my younger self? Don't hack.
I despaired when I lost my appeal to the High Court, but my final kernel of hope is a possible hearing in the House of Lords. They're a very eclectic bunch. But if they choose not to hear the case, then I'll be extradited within four weeks.
[...]