In an unusual move in an international hacking case, the U.S. government wants to extradite Gary McKinnon, a 36-year-old unemployed British computer administrator

In an unusual move in an international hacking case, the U.S. government wants to extradite Gary McKinnon, a 36-year-old unemployed British computer administrator who is facing eight federal counts of computer-related crimes. McKinnon is accused of hacking into 92 U.S. military and NASA networks, including two Pentagon systems. McKinnon was indicted Tuesday afternoon in Northern Virginia and New Jersey. The Virginia indictments claim McKinnon caused $900,000 in damage to computers in 14 states. The Pentagon intrusions temporarily shut down the network that serves the military district for Washington. The New Jersey indictments allege McKinnon broke into a network at the Earle Naval Weapons Station in Colts Neck, N.J., and stealing almost 1,000 passwords. The action closed the network for a week. U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty said the Justice Dept. will attempt to bring McKinnon to trial in both Virginia and New Jersey. McNulty characterized McKinnon's alleged hacks as the most successful ever against U.S. military networks. He also said McKinnon broke into the networks of six private companies and organizations. In a statement saying McKinnon would fight extradition, McKinnon's attorney, Karen Todner, said, "We can only presume that the motivation is political and that it is proposed to make an example of Mr. McKinnon. We also wish to emphasize on behalf of Mr. McKinnon that he has no terrorist links whatsoever."