Feb. 15, 1995: Mitnick Arrested
1995: Perhaps the most celebrated cracking case in history begins with the arrest of Kevin Mitnick by the FBI on charges of wire fraud and breaking into the computer systems of several major corporations.
The case bestowed upon Mitnick a sort of antihero status while raising the consciousness of hacking and computer security in the general population.
This is one of those rare cases where I was surprised to hear it was as recent as 1995. I thought Mitnick was more of a 1980s hacker - which of course he was - but he didn't get caught until the mid 1990s. Then again, I am reminded, 1995 was seventeen years ago. Hacking - internet security overall - is one of the areas where it's vital to bring in the FBI, as someone in East NoWhere can be breaking into a computer system housed on Wall Street. It gets thornier when the perpetrator is in Kuala Lampur, though...
Anyhoo, just thought it was an interesting milestone...
That is all.
4 comments:
I feel old. Er.
I was at the Infosec conference In London In (I think) 2004 when they took Fluffy Bunny out in handcuffs. I'd always enjoyed his "Hacked by Fluffy Bunny" (if "enjoyed" is the right word) with his picture of a stuffed blogshoot toy at a keyboard. No particular crazy 1337 ninja skis, tho.
Mitnick had skillz with cell phones, though. Computers, not so much, but cred with the phr33ks.
But nice post, and nice waltz down memory lane, Jay.
Mitnick might seem more recent than 1995 because he was still making news (in geek circles) until 2000-2001.
Arrested for hacking? Cool, no problem with that.
Arrested and held without trial for 5 years while the government builds their case? Not cool.
Mitnick's book "Ghost in the wires" was pretty good. It detailed his rise to fame, the .gov's retarded cases against him, and his running from the law.
I'd recommend it.
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