A British hacker has finally lost his court battle against extradition to the US, where he is to be tried for committing the “biggest military computer hack” of all times. Gary McKinnon, from London, lost his High Court challenge almost a year after John Reid, the British Home Secretary, signed his extradition order. "I'm facing 40 years because the US military systems have blank passwords and no firewalls," the hacker has been quoted by the BBC as saying.

41-year-old McKinnon was originally arrested and then released by the Metropolitan Police in 2002, but the US authorities, which lodged an extradition request, then pursued his case. The Glasgow-born hacker has never denied accessing classified computer networks and downloading secret information, but claims his did so simply to look for evidence of the existence of UFOs. Despite those claims, and his own admission of being a “bumbling computer nerd”, the US authorities maintain Mr McKinnon caused some $700,000 worth of damages and rendered key defence computer networks inoperable.

At the High Court hearing Gary McKinnon’s lawyers voiced concerns about the severity of punishment the British hacker could face in a US court. According to the defence, he could now find himself facing up to 45 years in prison without the possibility of spending at least part of the sentence on home soil in a British jail. Additionally, Mr McKinnon could be left with a fine of up to $2 million and an unknown spell in pre-trial detention. However, these arguments were not seen solid enough by Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Mr Justice Goldring, who dismissed the case at the High Court. However, Gary McKinnon will not be leaving on a transatlantic flight just yet – his defence team still has the option of appealing to the House of Lords.