IT HAS BEEN HUMILIATIONFOR STATES

Computer security expert David Fox is amazed the US military network wasn't better protected against hackers like Gary.

The IT boss with network consultants JPY said: "It's ridiculous that a member of the public in another country was able to do the damage that Gary McKinnon did.

"You wouldn't expect the network to be accessible at all to the public.

"You would expect them to use Virtual Private Networks which create tunnels through the internet through which you connect private networks together.

"It's all fairly straightfoward technology so the Americans must be very embarrassed.

"They can try to spin it by saying he was attacking the military but I suspect they just don't want to be seen to be letting this guy off.

"If they did, it would be open season for anyone who wanted to attack their computers which were evidently not very well secured."

The Americans estimate that Gary did around s500,000 worth of damage when he hacked their system, leaving around 2000 computers in Washington disabled for 24 hours.

David added: "I can see the justification of wanting to make an example of anyone who does this.

"Put someone away for a long time and you'll probably stop other people attacking your network.

"But the response has been heavyhanded.

He has actually done them a favour - he forced them to speed up their security."