A poll by security firm Sophos of more than 500 IT professionals has found a 50:50 split over the extradition of Gary McKinnon. 

The online poll follows last night's announcement that Home Secretary John Reid has approved McKinnon's extradition to face charges in the US.

Asked whether it was right that McKinnon should face a US court, 52 per cent of respondents said 'no' and 48 said 'yes'.

McKinnon, who is to appeal his extradition, said that he was surprised by the result. "I think half the IT professionals are software security vendors," he told vnunet.com. "It is Sophos, after all."

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said: "It is fascinating to see how the IT community is split down the middle regarding Gary McKinnon. Many have expressed sympathy and think the British authorities have let him down.

"Hackers should take heed of the McKinnon case, and think carefully about their actions if they don't want a one-way ticket to an American court."

McKinnon, 40, maintains that he did not break into the networks with malicious intent, but to uncover confidential information about extraterrestrial technology.

He told vnunet.com earlier this year that he and his lawyers fear that he may be imprisoned as a terrorist in Guantanamo Bay.

Meanwhile Tory MP Boris Johnson has been blogging about the case. In a post dated 6 July, Johnson backs McKinnon and criticises the Labour government for not protecting its citizens. 

"It cannot be right that British citizens should be handed over so casually. [Prime Minister Tony] Blair should intervene and put this unjust and one-sided treaty on hold. America defends its citizens, so why don't we defend ours?" he wrote.

"When the people of Britain choose a government, they assume that the government can be relied upon to negotiate treaties that preserve the liberties of British people, and prevent them from being arbitrarily hoiked off to face trial in foreign jurisdictions.

"Insofar as there is a case to defend, the evidence is all on this side of the Atlantic. You would therefore expect the case to be heard in this country, and yet no UK authority has shown the slightest interest in prosecuting. Not the police, not the Crown Prosecution Service, not the Serious Fraud Office."