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Briton Gary McKinnon is accused of carrying out the biggest ever U.S. military hacking operation.

Briton Gary McKinnon is accused of carrying out the biggest ever U.S. military hacking operation.

UK Pentagon hacker loses appeal, will be sent to U.S.

The Briton accused of hacking into U.S. government computers on Friday lost his court appeal to have his case heard in Britain, his legal team said. The decision means Gary McKinnon faces extradition to the United States, where he is wanted for allegedly hacking into computers at the Pentagon and NASA.

CNN | Published: 07/31/2009 06:01

His mother, Janis Sharp, promised to appeal.

McKinnon, who has admitted breaking the law and intentionally gaining unauthorized access to computer systems, wanted to be tried in Britain rather than the United States.

He planned to ask judges at the High Court in London to review a recent decision by the director of public prosecutions not to pursue legal action in Britain, a spokeswoman at the prosecutor's office told CNN July.

The prosecutor's decision effectively cleared the way for McKinnon's extradition.

The U.S. government says McKinnon carried out the biggest military computer hacking of all time, accessing 97 computers from his home in London for a year starting in March 2001 and costing the government about $1 million.

McKinnon, currently free on bail in England, has said he was simply doing research to find out whether the U.S. government was covering up the existence of UFOs.

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