Kevin David Mitnick (born August 6, 1963) is a computer security consultant and author. He was a world-famous controversial computer hacker in the late 20th century, who was, at the time of his arrest, the most wanted computer criminal in United States history.
Arrest, Conviction, and Incarceration
After a well-publicized pursuit, the FBI arrested Kevin Mitnick in February of 1995 at his apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina, on federal offenses related to a 2½-year computer hacking spree. [2]
In 1999, Mitnick confessed to four counts of wire fraud, two counts of computer fraud and one count of illegally intercepting a wire communication, as part of a plea agreement before the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to 46 months in prison in addition to 22 months for violating the terms of his 1989 supervised release sentence for computer fraud. He admitted to violating the terms of supervised release by hacking into PacBell voicemail and other systems and to associating with known computer hackers, in this case co-defendant Louis De Payne.
Mitnick served five years in prison, four and a half years pre-trial and eight months in solitary confinement, because law enforcement officials convinced a judge that he had the ability to "start a nuclear war by whistling into a pay phone".[3] 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, eventually winning a ruling in his favor, allowing him to access the Internet.
As per the plea deal, Mitnick was also prohibited from profiting from films or books that are based on his criminal activity for a period of seven years.
Mitnick now runs Mitnick Security Consulting LLC, a computer security consultancy.
Early life
At the age of twelve Kevin Mitnick used social engineering to bypass the punchcard system used in the Los Angeles bus system. After a friendly bus driver told him where he could buy his own punch, he could ride any bus in the greater LA area using unused transfer slips he found in the trash. Social engineering became his primary method of obtaining information, whether it be user names and passwords, modem phone numbers or any number of other pieces of data.
In high school, he was introduced by "Petronix" to phone phreaking, a method of manipulating telephones, which he often used to evade long distance charges. Mitnick also became handy with amateur radios; using radio equipment, Mitnick reportedly managed to gain unauthorized access to the speaker systems of nearby fast food restaurants.
Computer cracking
Mitnick gained unauthorized access to his first computer network in 1979, when a friend gave him the phone number for the Ark, the computer system Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) used for developing their RSTS/E operating system software. He broke into DEC's computer network and copied DEC's software, a crime he was charged and convicted for in 1988. He was sentenced to twelve months in prison followed by a three year period of supervised release. Near the end of his supervised release, Mitnick hacked into Pacific Bell voice mail computers. Mitnick fled after a warrant was issued for his arrest, becoming a fugitive for the next two and a half years.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice while a fugitive Mitnick gained unauthorized access to dozens of computer networks. He used cloned cellular phones to hide his location and, among other things, copying valuable proprietary software from some of the country’s largest cellular telephone and computer companies. Mitnick also intercepted and stole computer passwords, altered computer networks, and broke into and read private e-mail. Mitnick was apprehended in February 1995 in North Carolina. When arrested he was found with cloned cellular phones, over one hundred clone cellular phone codes, and multiple pieces of false identification.
Confirmed Criminal Acts
Alleged Criminal Acts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Mitnick
- Using the Los Angeles bus transfer system to get free rides[5]
- Evading the FBI[6]
- Hacking into DEC system(s) to view VMS source code (DEC reportedly spent $160,000 in cleanup costs)[5][6]
- Gaining full admin privileges to an IBM minicomputer at the Computer Learning Center in LA in order to win a bet[5]
- Hacking Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Sun Microsystems and Fujitsu Siemens systems
Alleged Criminal Acts
- Stole computer manuals from a Pacific Bell telephone switching center in Los Angeles[7]
- Read the e-mail of computer security officials at MCI Communications and Digital[7]
- Wiretapped the California DMV[7]
- Made free cell phone calls[8]
- Hacked SCO, PacBell, FBI, Pentagon, Novell, CA DMV, USC and Los Angeles Unified School District systems.
- Wiretapped FBI agents according to John Markoff,[7] although denied by Kevin Mitnick
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Mitnick
