Kevin Mitnick/ The Art of Deception

Very interesting, Phoenix!

I think for Mitnick to say he went a little too far with his curiosity is a bit of an understatement. However, I didn't realize how horribly he was treated after his arrest. I'm glad he's using his "talents" for good things these days!

I'm with Chatoyant. He made some very poor and dangerous choices in life, but I'm glad he's on the right track.

He is the most overrated hacker/cracker on earth. And he isn't supposed to use a computer so he should know nothing about curent security issues (he did his work on Windows 3.1).

Mitnick also isn't suppoed to write a book about his hacking and he is constantly skirting the terms of his plea. His friends sold the laptop he used to hack on eBay and he continues to bend the rules of his agreement as far as they go (they expicitly state that he can't make money off his hacking adventures for some time).

He was never a good hacker either and is only the most famous hacker on earth because of the misguided "free kevin" movements.

IMO he is a fool who deserves to go back to jail for his incessant attempts to make money off his notoriety.

Certain people must be born with
specific talents and gifts which,
if never explored or utilized, is a
terrible waste for us all. Think of
what a Kevin Mitnick (or whatever)
COULD do, if he were motivated
by some other means than
personal gain or more likely
for personal notoriety. It
doesn't really surprise me that
our govt is not what it claims to
be - or that a person could &
would be denied the rights any
American citizen supposedly
is entitled to. These rights are things
that exist on paper, and may or
may not exist when it comes to
any given set of circumstances.
I am sure there are much more
highly talented people in
Kevin's field of work - who are
still IN that field of work
-because -they are better,
they have never been caught
and may never be caught.
Anyway - giftedness in ANY
capacity that is not used,
- is our loss.

I agree entirely with your thesis, babsatamelia. It's like the kids in schools who are supposed to be bright and are seen as lazy, even by their own parents. We are learning machines, there's nothing we do better as a species. But we must have to want to learn, in order to be able to learn effectively. If work allows us to learn to do things we would like to in a way that suits our learning/working styles, we will always be useful and contributing members of society. And this will be true not only of those we may dare to define as "gifted".

Where possible, procedures should adapt to people, not people to procedures. You'd find a lot more Kevins, a lot more people in fact, not only the "gifted", who'd be happy working to a greater good instead of a personal notoriety or wealth, if the world just inflected slightly in the direction of taking into account "hows" as well as "whats".

idiocy of the uninformed


Are you really this uninformed or what is your basis for all this crap towards one of the most UNDER-rated hackers on earth?
Please, inform yourself and listen to him being free at last;
http://www.2600.com/offthehook/rafiles03/012203.m3u

and then try and make up some excuses for your dumb-ass remarks.

Mitnik has a following, that's for sure. He wasn't good enough to not get caught, that's for sure too. Many of his "Exploits" were relatively unsophisticated and essentially counted on the "Cooperation" of his "Vuctims". By today's standards, he's little different from "Script Kiddies". Notoriety is no measure of ability. Of course, Henry Ford wasn't a particularly good driver, and Orville and Wilbur were "Out Flown" very soon after their arrival on the scene. Mitnik just happened to be particularly noticeable among the first of his breed. The herd has grown, and the bloodline is a lot stronger now.

Mitnik's book is a useful addition to the discussion of cyber security. It is not, however, monumental. It should be noted that cybercrooks move far more quickly than do printing presses.

The above is opinion, and offered with expectation individual mileage may vary.



timber, who is a long time afficianado of 2600, and of related-interest, but less refined forums, IRC channels, and news groups, too.

"Heroes are created by popular demand, sometimes out of the scantiest materials, or none at all." - - - Gerald W. Johnson (1890-1980)

Again, you people are so uninformed about what he's like as a person or what he has or hasn't been doing before he got caught, it's scaring me.

Before you mistakenly direct your blurred comments towards the wrong guy, and for the wrong reasons, try and INFORM yourself about him.

http://www.2600.com/offthehook/2002/1002.html
and for once, try and have some patience and LISTEN to what is being said and told.

So jult, exactly what were we supposed to gleen from those pages? That he's really a nice guy that didn't mean any harm? Please! Get a grip on reality. Mitnick was a punk. The attempts to play him off as some sort of "misunderstood hero that exposes flaws in software for the benefit of all" is a load of crap.

He was arrogant and acted irresponsibly. He got caught and got exactly what he deserved.

jult, OK, so you're a Mitnik Follower. Some folks aren't. In all respect, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions ...

What's your general age group?

How long have you been "Intensively Hands-On Involved" with Computers, Program Development, and Network Communication?
For purposes of this query, please disregard academic experience.

Again, I ask in respect. I gather you are relatively young, and I suspect you are not a trained, experienced Information Technology Professional. I do not mean to imply anything negative by that speculation; I don't know you at all. I could be totally off-base. I'm just trying to get a handle on your perspective, and I'd appreciate any help you might offer in that regard. Thanks.



timber

jult: With all due respect, how do you KNOW how much we know about him?

Welcome, by the way, but please don't assume that those to whom you direct your comments are not as "informed" as well as you purport to be, and I am sure you'll get along just peachy.

jult,

The man who caught him ( Tsutomu Shimomura ) was more talented. Since Kevin is usually the only hacker any kiddie scripter can name I called him overrated. This was a defense he used, that he was just a pedestrian hacker being used to make an example. This doesn't mean he was a talentless hack, just that his notoriety is largely due to the people who decided to make an example out of him.

dream on


No, you're the stupid arrogant one here, the uninformed majority member that doesn't know **** about him or this entire case. And what I see you idiots suggesting here only gives away the fact that you don't have the slightest clue as to what he's been doing back in the old days. You still haven't been really listening to any of the URLs I posted.

What is a 'Mitnick follower' anwyay? If anything it's fools like you that must have introduced this stupid terminology. Like it's some sort of disease. Kevin himself would laugh out loud if you would ask him about such crapshoots, I'm sure.

I can understand that you're all somewhat jeallous about the attention he's been getting, you being so young and everything, but let's not be mistaken here, he DID NOT ask for this in any way, and never made money off of it.
When he was accused of violating a law, he wasn't even aware that what he was doing was against any law. Furthermore, the punishment(s) involved were totally ludicrous, if not inhumane.
You're all obvious way too naive to comprehend and believe that your federal justice system sucks big time. Too young and uninformed to know anything about what's been done to him.

What do you get out of falsely accusing him of things?
Does it make you feel good?
Why don't you go buy a gun and shoot people on schoolyards or something. Go vote for an even bigger idiot than this Bush piece of **** idiot you all seem to like. http://maddox.xmission.com/limits_to_freedom.html

And dream on.
I will not read any followup posting on this forum, so don't bother.

Re: dream on


Part of his plea bargain was that he not profit from his exploits, while the case can be argued that he followed the letter of the law he didn't follow the spirity of it.

He auctioned (through a friend, in order to bypass the prohibition against profiting from his crimes and the ban against using a computer) the laptops he used to commit his crimes.

BTW, Please avoid the vulgarities in attacks on other posters. Nobody has insulted you (unless you are Mitnick and are breaking the law by using a computer).

You think he's all that, others don't. Such is life.

Hey, why all the animosity, guys? I heard Mitnick's story on the radio, and read his book. I don't know hackers from Mallomars, but I DO know that Mitnick wrote a very interesting book, and I take that at face value.

As far as I am concerned, my sole interest is what information that I can learn from him.

Near as I can determine, Phoenix, the animosity claims to have packed up and left. I feel no sense of loss or bereavement. I did get a kick out of being labled "Too young and uninformed " though. That was cause for a snigger.



timber.

"Too young and uninformed " i gotta save this one!!! well actually the "uninformed" is probably true