Criminals & Outlaws Codexery

Kevin Mitnick

American computer security consultant, author, and convicted hacker.

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Authorities took Mitnick into custody in 1995 on charges involving computers and communications; after convictions for fraud and illegal interception of communications, he remained incarcerated for five years.[1] Following his prison term, Mitnick established his own security consulting company and participated in other computer security ventures.[1]

Key facts and history

In 1979, at age 16, Mitnick gained unauthorized access to a computer network after a friend gave him the phone number for the Ark, a DEC computer system.[2] When Mitnick was twelve, he persuaded a bus driver to disclose where a ticket punch could be purchased, claiming it was for a school assignment; subsequently, he utilized discarded transfer slips from a dumpster to travel on buses without paying.[3] Mitnick was a student at James Monroe High School and obtained an amateur radio operator license, using the call sign WA6VPS.[4] In 1988, Mitnick was charged and found guilty for illegally accessing DEC's network and duplicating their software.[2]

On February 15, 1995, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation took Mitnick into custody at his Raleigh, North Carolina residence.[5] Judge Mariana Pfaelzer of the U.S. district court imposed a 46-month federal prison term on Mitnick, along with an additional 22 months for breaching supervised release conditions.[6] Mitnick's total time in prison was five years, which included four and a half years of pre-trial detention and eight months spent in solitary confinement.[7]

What the cited sources add

A 1999 Department of Justice press release stated that Mitnick was arrested after an intensive two-week electronic manhunt.[8] The same release noted that Mitnick was convicted in 1988 for stealing computer programs and breaking into corporate networks.[8] A 1997 federal sentencing document reported that Mitnick had more than 100 clone cellular phone codes when arrested in North Carolina.[9] The Linux Journal reported that Mitnick was denied a bail hearing and accused of $299,927,389.61 in damages, but was ultimately ordered to pay restitution of a little over $4000.[10]

The same article stated that civil rights groups including the ACLU and Amnesty International refused to stand up for Mitnick.[10] A 2014 Vice article reported that Mitnick's post-crime ventures included running a zero-day exploit exchange where exploits cost $100,000 each.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Kevin Mitnick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Kevin Mitnick sentenced to nearly four years in prison; computer hacker ordered to pay restitution to victim companies whose systems were compromised", justice.gov, August 9, 1999; Kroll, "Free Kevin, Kevin Freed", Linux Journal, January 21, 2000; "Ex-hacker reveals tricks of the trade", AsiaOne Digital; Randolph, "About Kevin's Case", Free Kevin Mitnick; "Defense consolidated motion for sanctions and for reconsideration of motion for discovery and application for expert fees based upon new facts", Free Kevin Mitnick, June 7, 1999 (we al en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Kevin Mitnick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Missing Chapter from The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick", thememoryhole.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Kevin Mitnick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Albeck-Ripka, "Kevin Mitnick, Hacker Who Once Eluded Authorities, Is Dead at 59", The New York Times, July 20, 2023; "Freedom Downtime - The Story of Kevin Mitnick (2001)", CosmoLearning, August 20, 2009; Percival, "Famed US hacker Kevin Mitnick, once dubbed 'America's most wanted', dies aged 59", The Jewish Chronicle, 2023-07-21; Bresky, ""Hacker" Kevin Mitnick's Dramatic Turnaround", Arutz Sheva, 2012-07-24; Cho, "Kevin Mitnick, hacker and fugitive turned security consultant, dies at 59", The Washington Post, July 20, 2023; Greene, "Cha en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Kevin Mitnick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mitnick, "Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker", Little, Brown and Company, 2011; "Hacker Arraigned in Computer Fraud Case", Los Angeles Times, October 1, 1996; "INITIAL DECISION OF CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE RICHARD L. SIPPEL (FCC 02D-02)", Federal Communications Commission, December 23, 2002; Mills, "Q&A: Kevin Mitnick, from ham operator to fugitive to consultant", cnet.com, June 22, 2009; "Mitnick Granted Ham License", December 27, 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Kevin Mitnick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Fugitive Computer Hacker Arrested in North Carolina", justice.gov; "Kevin Mitnick", August 18, 2011; Hafner, "Kevin Mitnick, Unplugged", August 1995, p. 80–88; Painter, "Supervised Release and Probation Restrictions in Hacker Cases", United States Attorneys' USA Bulletin, March 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Kevin Mitnick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gengler, "Super-hacker Kevin Mitnick takes a plea", Computer Fraud & Security, 1999, p. 6; "Computer Hacker Kevin Mitnick Sentenced to Prison", fas.org, June 27, 1997; "Kevin Mitnick sentenced to nearly four years in prison; computer hacker ordered to pay restitution to victim companies whose systems were compromised", justice.gov, August 9, 1999; Hess, "Ghost in the Wires: The Kevin Mitnick Interview", ZDNET, September 12, 2011 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Kevin Mitnick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mills, "Social Engineering 101: Mitnick and other hackers show how it's done", CNET, July 20, 2008; "Famed hacker to Snowden: Watch out", CNN; Thomas, "Life Not Kosher for Mitnick", August 18, 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Kevin Mitnick sentenced to nearly four years in prison; computer hacker ordered to pay restitution to victim companies whose systems were compromised", justice.gov, August 9, 1999. facts only, no text reused. justice.gov
  9. "Computer Hacker Kevin Mitnick Sentenced to Prison", fas.org, June 27, 1997. facts only, no text reused. fas.org
  10. Kroll, "Free Kevin, Kevin Freed", Linux Journal, January 21, 2000. facts only, no text reused. linuxjournal.com
  11. Byrne, "Kevin Mitnick Offers a Peek Inside the Cryptic Zero-Day Marketplace", Vice, September 27, 2014. facts only, no text reused. vice.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Kevin Mitnick (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year did Kevin Mitnick die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 2023.

From the source: “Mitnick died from pancreatic cancer on July 16, 2023, at the age of 59 at a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hospital.”

2. In what year was Kevin Mitnick born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1963.

From the source: “Mitnick was born on August 6, 1963, in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California.”

3. In which place was Kevin Mitnick born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Los Angeles, California, U.S..

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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