The extradition saga of the alleged hacker Lauri Love
Alleged hacker Lauri Love has said the only way he'll travel to the United States is inside a body bag, but that hasn't stopped the country from trying to extradite him from the United Kingdom.
Love, 31, was allegedly part of a small team who hacked into the FBI, the U.S. military, the Federal Reserve and other agencies from 2012 to 2013. On Friday, he lost his case against being extradited to the U.S., where he faces up to 99 years behind bars, though he has a chance to appeal the ruling.
Five years ago, Love was a student at the University of Glasgow, but 2011 is also the year his life took a turn that led down a winding and tumultuous road toward international attention.
You May Also Like
Love, who has Asperger syndrome and has been diagnosed with a host of mental health issues including depression, dropped out of school that year and soon became homeless.
He was in and out of the hospital before his mom and dad drove from their home in Suffolk and found him in Scotland, according to The Guardian. He holed up in the house of his parents for much of the next two years, and it's there that he's alleged to have committed the hacks that have landed him in legal trouble on two continents.
Love, like many others who participate in the world of digital security, was disturbed by the United States' treatment of American computer programmer Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide in early 2013 as he faced up to 35 years in prison for allegedly violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Love is alleged to have contributed to a hacktivism campaign against the U.S. in retaliation for the American government's charges against Swartz before Swartz took his own life.
American officials say Love was loosely affiliated with the hacking group Anonymous, and was part of a team of four that hacked into a range of government institutions, including NASA and the FBI.
The hacking campaign was supposedly known as "Operation Last Resort." American officials also accuse Love of trying to disseminate personal information allegedly uncovered by his hacking attempts, though he disputes that charge.
After the hacks and toward the end of 2013, Love's mom told him to come to the door of their home, according to The Telegraph. Men dressed in UPS uniforms were at the door, and said they had a package for him.
But as soon as they saw him, the two men grabbed Love and rampaged through the house, gathering a total of 29 laptops, iPads and other computer devices.
When they were through, after five hours, they told Love he was under investigation for having allegedly run afoul of the Computer Misuse Act.
Thus began the extradition saga of Lauri Love.
His fate was unknown until 2015, when officials came back to Love's house and told him he was wanted by the United States.
Love's lawyers are fighting to have him tried in the UK, though Love has said he thinks the British government is trying to coerce him into incriminating himself by allowing the extradition case to go on.
Love and his parents have a dark outlook on the rest of his life should he be extradited. His mental conditions, Love has said, don't give him a lot of confidence in his ability to survive in a cell so far from home.
“Sadly, what I expect [in a U.S. prison are] the urges, the depression...I will exercise what remains of my self-control and I will take my life," he said.
His dad agrees.
“If there’s an ocean between us and him he will die, of that I have no doubt," Alexander Love said.
Love's lawyer, Tor Ekeland, has said the alleged hacking done by Love did not pose some grave threat to the American government, as the charges might make an observer believe. Though American officials said Love passed the hacked information around online, Ekeland said that is untrue.
But they have so far been unable to persuade the British legal system that Love should not be extradited.
For now, Love's out on bail. He and his legal team have two weeks to file an appeal.
Topics Cybersecurity
Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
