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Kevin Mitnick

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File:Mtiknik.jpg
Kevin David Mitnick

Kevin David Mitnick (born August 6, 1963) is a controversial computer hacker in the United States.

Mitnick was convicted in the late 1990s of illegally gaining access to computer networks and stealing intellectual property. He is viewed as a dangerous criminal by some, but has also gained many supporters among computer enthusiasts, who generally argue that he was made a scapegoat and that his punishment was excessive.

Mitnick served five years in prison, of which four and a half years were pre-trial,[citation needed] and eight months were in solitary confinement. He was released on January 21 2000. During his supervised release, which ended on January 21, 2003, he was initially restricted from using any communications technology other than a landline telephone. Mitnick fought this decision in court, and the judge ruled in his favor, allowing him to access the Internet.

Mitnick now works as a computer security consultant.

Early life

Kevin Mitnick began social engineering or perhaps discovered his first engineerible situation the age of 12. He realized he could bypass the punchcard system used for the Los Angeles bus system, by buying himself his own punch, and get free bus rides anywhere in the greater LA area. Social engineering became his primary method of obtaining information, whether it be usernames, passwords, modem phone numbers and any number of other pieces of data.

In high school, he was introduced to phone phreaking, the activity of manipulating telephones to evade long distance charges.[citation needed]

Computer hacking

Mitnick broke into his first computer network in 1979, when a friend gave him the phone number for the Ark, the computer system at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) used for developing their RSTS/E operating system software. He broke into DEC's systems and stole DEC's software, for which he was later convicted. This was the first of a series of run-ins with the law.

Downfall

Kevin Mitnick would change his identity by exploiting how the identification system worked in the United States. He would obtain the birth certificates of recently deceased newborns and very young children (around the ages of 1 to 3 years old), as the government had no distinct record of their death since they never worked nor were involved in society. Furthermore, the certificates would have to be from someone who was, for example, born in Washington and died in California, as it was more difficult to trace back to the original source. He changed his identity about three or four times, any time he changed jobs. He claimed to have learned most of this information through a book by the title of Paper Trail, written by Barbara Snow Gilbert. Mitnick was arrested after the FBI obtained a search warrant, searched his house, and found his wallet with numerous fake ID's. He was caught in an accident by having the fake identification still in his possession. Once out of jail, he was able to evade the FBI and police for a relatively long time.

Controversy

Kevin Mitnick's criminal activities, arrest, and trial were controversial, as was the journalism surrounding his conviction.

The controversy is highlighted by the differing views offered in two books: John Markoff and Tsutomu Shimomura's Takedown, and Jonathan Littman's The Fugitive Game. Littman made four notable allegations:

  • journalistic impropriety by Markoff, who had covered the case for the New York Times
  • overzealous prosecution of Mitnick by the government
  • mainstream media over-hyping Mitnick's actual crimes
  • Shimomura's involvement in the matter being of unclear or dubious legality

Further controversy came over the release of the movie Takedown, with Littman alleging that portions of the film were taken from his book without permission.

The case against Mitnick tested then-nascent laws that had been enacted for dealing with computer crime, and it raised public awareness of security issues involving networked computers. The controversy remains, however, as Mitnick is often used today as an example of the quintessential computer criminal although his exploits are less notable than his notoriety suggests.

Supporters of Mitnick have asserted that many of the charges against him were fraudulent[1] and not based on actual losses.[2]

Falsehoods have also surrounded Mitnick's exploits. For example, many mistakenly believe that Mitnick was once in the FBI's most wanted list. Federal prosecuter Kent Walker said in an interview with the New York Times that Mitnick "…was arguably the most wanted computer hacker in the world, he allegedly had access to corporate trade secrets worth millions of dollars. He was a very big threat".[3] The headline of the resultant article, "A Most-Wanted Cyberthief Is Caught in His Own Web," was later picked up by Associated Press, Time Magazine and Reuters, thus perpetuating the myth. Mitnick has alleged that at one time he was held in solitary confinement for 8 months because his girlfriend Suzy Thunder told authorities Mitnick could cause a nuclear attack by whistling into a phone. He was denied access to a phone because of this.[citation needed]

While Mitnick's actual actions may not have justified the level of official concern they did, the fact that his activities were criminal is not disputed. Mitnick's first adult criminal sentence was considerably shorter than is the norm today. His second adult criminal sentence was typical for a second offense committed while on probation.[citation needed]

The film Freedom Downtime, a documentary that centers on the topics of Kevin Mitnick's incarceration in a maximum security prision, Miramax's film's screen adaptation of Takedown, and the "FREE KEVIN" movement, was made in 2001 by Emmanuel Goldstein and produced by 2600 Films in 2006.

Attacks on Mitnick's sites

On August 20, 2006, Kevin Mitnick's site was defaced by Pakistani hackers with offensive messages against him. The domain names defensivethinking.com, mitsec.com, kevinmitnick.com and mitnicksecurity.com displayed the vandalism for hours before the affected files were replaced.

Mitnick commented:

The Web hosting provider that hosts my sites was hacked, fortunately, I don't keep any confidential data on my Web site, so it wasn't that serious. Of course it is embarrassing to be defaced—nobody likes it.

As a notorious figure, Mitnick has been targeted by hackers who wish to bolster their status and for people seeking to prove their abilities.[4] Also, sites supporting Mitnick have been targeted as well. [citation needed]

Zone-H reports that in one occasion, there was a struggle between different black hat and white hat hackers when some defacers put their nicks on Mitnick's site and fans who were replacing the vandalized copy with an original unmodified one. This went on for a full day.[5]

Recent activity

File:Mitnick-mugshot-MSHT.jpg
The Art of Intrusion
  • Mitnick offers security consulting services through his company Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC and has co-authored two books on computer security. The books are The Art of Deception (2002), which focuses on social engineering, and The Art of Intrusion (2005), focusing on real stories of security exploits.
  • He has also co-authored (with Alexis Kasperavicius) a social engineering prevention training course and certification: CSEPS.
  • On Aug 20, 2006, A Syrian editor, Nidal Maalouf, accused Mitnick of stealing his domain name (Syria-news.com), He falsely claimed that Mitnick is the FBI's No.1 wanted person for illegal acts against a number of internet sites. Maalouf was interviewed by the local newspaper "Bourses & Markets", and the interview was quoted by Al-Ayham Saleh on his personal website.[6]
  • Mitnick usually makes semiannual appearances on the popular late night radio show Coast to Coast AM. Mitnick has also hosted the show with interviews including Steve Wozniak (on April 30 2006).
  • Kevin Mitnick has been invited to be a speaker at many events. He was the keynote speaker at the IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals) Privacy Academy in Las Vegas, October, 2005, Kevin Mitnick was also a speaker at the National Youth Leadership Forum on Technology in San Jose, CA, in the summer of 2004 as well as a keynote speaker at The Fifth H.O.P.E. in New York, NY, July, 2004. One of his first appearances was at ITESM Monterery Tec, on February 2003 where he was also the keynote speaker, and spoke to a sellout crowd at the campus auditorium, Auditorio Luis Elizondo. He was scheduled to speak at the sixth H.O.P.E. in 2006, but was unable to attend after becoming ill while vacationing in Colombia.
  • Kevin Mitnick was a "surprise guest" in the 40th TWiT podcast when, while in Las Vegas for a conference, he ran into Steve Wozniak at a table outside a Starbucks coffee store. Wozniak was on the line with fellow TWiT hosts via Skype on his notebook computer, and Mitnick remained with Wozniak for much of the remainder of the show.
  • Kevin Mitnick appeared on "Thebroken", an online videozine marketing itself as 'borderline legal.' He appeared on the third episode of the show, but was given mention in the first.
  • Mitnick guest starred in a first season episode of Alias. The casting was an in-joke, since Mitnick played a CIA hacker. Due to the conditions of his parole, however, the computer he used in the scene was a prop.
  • Kevin Mitnick has recently appeared on the South African actuality programme "Carte Blanche".
  • On 2 March, 2007, the WELL declined his application for admission, refunding his membership fee. [1][2]
  • Kevin Mitnick now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.
  • Mitnick is referenced by a fictional radio caller in the video game Grand Theft Auto III. The crazy caller rants and raves about the National Security Agency's ECHELON system and government conspiracies. At the end, he is asked if he wants to say anything else and answers "yes", and then shouts "FREE KEVIN!", but is immediately cut off. "Free Kevin" is a reference to the controversy over Mitnick's trial and incarceration.
  • Kevin Mitnick is mentioned in episode 18 of the anime "Black Lagoon".
  • The video game "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines" features a Nosferatu hacker named Mitnick.
  • Mitnick is played by actor Skeet Ulrich in the movie Takedown.
  • Mitnick's voice can be heard in the video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas". During WCTR's "Area 53" conspiracy theory show, an unnamed caller talks about being kept in solitary confinement for 8 months because 'I can launch nuclear missiles by just whistling into a phone!'. The caller is none other than Kevin Mitnick himself. The host of the show, Marvin Trill, asks if the caller can blow up all the other radio stations in town, to which Mitnick replies 'Hey, I don't do that anymore. I only use my powers for good.'.

References

  • Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw-By the Man Who Did It, by Tsutomu Shimomura (1996, ISBN 0-7868-8913-6)
  • The Fugitive Game: Online with Kevin Mitnick, by Jonathan Littman (1996, ISBN 0-316-52858-7)
  • Cyber Punk - Outlaws and Hackers On The Computer Frontier, by Katie Hafner & John Markoff (1995, Hardcover ISBN 1-872180-94-9, Paperback ISBN 0-684-81862-0)
  • The Art Of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind The Exploits Of Hackers, Intruders, And Deceivers, by Kevin Mitnick (2005, Hardback ISBN 0-7645-6959-7, Paperback ISBN 0-471-78266-1)
  • The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security, by Kevin Mitnick (2002, Hardback ISBN 0-471-23712-4, Paperback ISBN 0-7645-4280-X)
  • Fost, Dan (May 4, 2000). "Movie About Notorious Hacker Inspires a Tangle of Suits and Subplots". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-04-24.

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.freekevin.com/about.html section II
  2. ^ http://www.freekevin.com/060799defmot.html section II - Statement of Facts
  3. ^ http://www.takedown.com/coverage/own-web.html
  4. ^ "Famous Hacker Gets Hacked". February 11, 2003. Associated press.
  5. ^ Preatoni, Roberto. "Kevin Mitnick creampied by Pakistani rage". Zone-H. 21 August 2006.
  6. ^ http://www.alayham.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=563 Nidal Maalouf interview] with a Syrian newspaper accusing Mitnick of pirating his domain name. (Arabic)

See also

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