In what is described as the biggest military computer hacking case ever, the London court told Gary McKinnon, 39, an unemployed computer systems administrator, to appear for an extradition hearing on July 27.

The judge ordered McKinnon to provide 5,000 pounds (7,500 euros, 9,200 dollars) security, report to his north London police station, not to apply for any international travel documents and not to gain access to the Internet as bail conditions.

Janet Boston, representing the US government, had asked for McKinnon to be remanded in custody.

McKinnon was first arrested in 2002 but action against him was discontinued, but he was arrested again in London on Tuesday evening by the extradition unit of the Metropolitan Police.

McKinnon, casually dressed in a baggy grey sweater and green trousers, and with unkempt wavy hair, waved to his family when he appeared in the dock.

Outside court, his lawyer Karen Todner said she was disappointed it had taken the authorities this long to bring him to court.

"This decision for extradition is driven by the American government. Mr McKinnon intends to contest this case most vigorously," Todner said, adding her client was worried about how other British nationals were treated in the US justice system.

"We believe that as a British national, he should be tried here in our courts by a British jury and not in the United States," she said.

Using software available for download on the Internet, McKinnon allegedly hacked into computer networks operated by NASA, the US Army, US Navy, Department of Defense and the US Air Force from 2001 to 2002.

McKinnon was indicted in November 2002 by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia on seven counts of computer fraud and related activity, the US justice department said on its website.

If extradited and found guilty, McKinnon faces on each count a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a 250,000 dollar fine, the website said.

According to the indictment, between March of 2001 and March of 2002, McKinnon accessed and damaged without authorization 92 computers belonging to the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of Defense and NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), and six computers belonging to a number of private businesses, the justice department said.

One count charges McKinnon with accessing and damaging without authorization a computer used by the military for national defense and security.

Other computers allegedly hacked by McKinnon include computers located at military bases throughout the United States and the Pentagon.

The indictment alleges that McKinnon scanned a large number of computers in the .mil network, was able to access the computers and obtained administrative privileges.

Once he was able to access the computers, McKinnon installed a remote administration tool, a number of hacker tools, copied password files and other files, deleted a number of user accounts and deleted critical system files, it was alleged.

Once inside a network, McKinnon would then use the hacked computer to find additional military and NASA victims, it was alleged.

Ultimately, McKinnon caused a network in the Washington D.C. area to shut down, resulting in the total loss of Internet access and e-mail service to approximately 2000 users for three days, the indictment charged.

The estimated loss to the various military organizations, NASA and the private businesses was approximately 900,000 dollars (730,000 euros), it said.

All rights reserved. copyright 2018 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.