Mitnick Pleads Guilty to Hacking Charges
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Copyright 1996 Nando.net

  LOS ANGELES (Apr 22, 1996 10:01 p.m. EDT) -- Reputed 
information highway bandit Kevin D. Mitnick, who has allegedly 
violated some of the nation's most protected computer systems, 
pleaded guilty Monday to hacking-related charges.

   Dressed in a wrinkled navy pin-striped jacket and pulling up 
his too-long gray slacks, Mitnick flatly said, "Guilty" when 
U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer asked how he pleaded to a 
count of illegally using stolen cellular telephone numbers. 
Mitnick allegedly used the codes to dial into computer 
databases.

   The 32-year-old man, who the government once called a 
"computer terrorist," also admitted to possessing other people's 
drivers' licenses in the Raleigh, N.C. , apartment where he was 
arrested. Pfaelzer also found he violated probation in a 1989 
conviction. He is charged with 23 counts of computer fraud.

   His capture last year ended a high-tech, cat-and-mouse game 
between the high school dropout "cyber-punk" and long-tressed, 
Japanese-born computer security expert Tsutomu Shimomura, a 
researcher at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. But security 
experts say the Internet is no safer with Mitnick off-line.

   Mitnick faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, but prosecutors 
were loathe to speculate on how long he will actually serve, 
saying it depends on how Pfaelzer interprets sentencing 
guidelines. The sentencing is scheduled for July 15.

   Prosecutors were hardly crowing about the plea, which had been 
repeatedly delayed.   There are other charges that could be filed 
against him, said Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Schindler. 
"This does not resolve this case entirely ... The investigation 
continues."

   If Mitnick pleaded not guilty, his case would have gone back 
to North Carolina for trial.   After the hearing, Mitnick was 
led away in handcuffs by federal marshals. He is being detained 
at a federal jail in downtown Los Angeles.

   Mitnick's hacking has landed him in jail several times. When 
he was a teen-ager in Sepulveda, Calif., he allegedly broke into 
a sensitive Defense Department database and was convicted and 
served six months for stealing computer manuals from a Pacific 
Bell switching center.

   He was later accused of causing millions of dollars in damage 
to MCI, Inc., and also allegedly produced a false report stating 
that the late Security Pacific Bank lost $400 million during the 
first quarter of 1988. That was four days after the bank turned 
him down for a job, because he did not inform them of his 
criminal record.

   Mitnick pleaded guilty in 1989 in Los Angeles to stealing 
computer programs and illegally intruding into computer networks 
in the U.S. and England. He was sentenced to one year in 
prison.

   After his release, he purportedly "electronically attacked" a 
number of corporations and communications carriers in California 
and other states.   On Christmas Day 1994, a hacker -- believed 
to be Mitnick -- accessed Shimomura's home computer, which is 
linked to the Supercomputer Center. The intruded reportedly 
copied 20,000 files from the expert's computer, which could 
allow electronic thieves to access some of the most 
sophisticated computers in the world.

   Shimomura took the on-line burglary as an affront and 
Mitnick's capture as a personal challenge. He began aiding the 
FBI in the search for Mitnick. The avid cross-country skier 
dropped his vacation plans and took up the coast-to-coast search 
for Mitnick.

   A series of "multiple unauthorized intrusions" into the 
Internet were traced to cellular phones in a suburb of Raleigh, 
N.C. Using advanced tracking equipment, Shimomura traced the 
calls to the very apartment complex where Mitnick was staying. 
After a day-long stake-out, Mitnick was captured on February 15, 
1995.

   At the hackers's first court appearance Mitnick reportedly 
turned to Shimomura and said, "Hello, Tsutomu. I respect your 
skills."

   Shimomura has since written a book about the chase titled: 
"Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's 
Most Wanted Computer Outlaw -- By the Man Who Did It."

   While the government has portrayed Mitnick as a threat to 
national security, the pudgy, bespectacled man's grandmother, 
Reba Vartanian, said prosecutors and others are out to "hyping" 
her grandson's case.

   The Las Vegas woman said there is a different side to his life 
that the media has never reported. She said his reputation as a 
computer hacker made it impossible for him to find work and to 
have a normal life.

   "He was shut out of society," Vartanian told reporters after 
Monday's hearing. "He did a crime, he did his time but he was 
never allowed to re-enter society. "

   Computer security experts said they believe Mitnick was more 
of a troublemaker than a "terrorist" but he had the potential 
robbing hundreds of thousands of dollars and damaging computer 
security.

   Mike Cameron, president of Kansas-based computer protection 
firm Innovative Security Products, said compared to hackers who 
are now infiltrating banks, credit card companies and computer 
firms, Mitnick is a "piker"

   "There are some professionals that are doing a very good job 
of (hacking) and they're not getting caught," Cameron said. 
"Guys like Kevin are just playing a game."