Ask Kevin Mitnick 839
Okay, Kevin Mitnick is getting back online and can start taking email tomorrow, January 21. We've spoken with Kevin by phone, and he agrees that a Slashdot interview is a fine way to help celebrate his return to the Internet, especially since he has a book to sell and a consulting business to build. (Don't forget: Kevin hasn't been able to make much money for a number of years, and has a lot of lost time to make up for.) One question per post, please. We'll email Kevin 10 of the highest-moderated questions, and post his answers shortly after he gets them to us.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
What do you say? (Score:5, Interesting)
Thoughts (Score:5, Interesting)
Or is is the old, I just gotta do this feeling?
Life Without the Internet (Score:5, Interesting)
What's Different? (Score:5, Interesting)
-theGreater Ponderer.
Your finest moment in court (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes? (Score:5, Interesting)
Do you feel... (Score:5, Interesting)
Skill sets? (Score:5, Interesting)
How do you find it? (Score:5, Interesting)
What do you think of todays internet?
Which OS? (Score:5, Interesting)
Hmmm, maybe you will try them all? You are a sneaky one.
So... (Score:4, Interesting)
Honestly, though. Do you think your return to the internet should be a 'celebration'? You -did- break the law, why should we be happy you are back on the saddle again?
Scapegoat Sweepstakes? (Score:5, Interesting)
How many of the charges brought against you were unfair? What do you feel would have been a fair set of charges to levy against you?
The more things change... (Score:5, Interesting)
The slammer (Score:5, Interesting)
Welcome back.
Your wrongs... (Score:5, Interesting)
Good fiction? (Score:2, Interesting)
Knowing what you do from all your escapades, do you enjoy reading fiction that is generally classified as "cyber punk"?
Free Kevin! (Score:5, Interesting)
Future vs Past (Score:5, Interesting)
The speed of change (Score:5, Interesting)
As a side note, if you're interested in game programming, let me know!!
Trepidation (Score:3, Interesting)
Prison Life (Score:5, Interesting)
Social Engineering (Score:1, Interesting)
still possible (Score:5, Interesting)
clueful authorities? (Score:5, Interesting)
>How clueful are they?
>In your opinion, how did the each party (prosecution, your lawyer, and most
>important - the judge) look when it came to their understanding of
>technology? Did they know every nook and cranny, or seem lost in a maze of
>confusion? Do you think an understanding of the issues in question was a
>significant factor in court proceedings?
I know you spoke of this briefly in that lost chapter of your book, in that the companies who said they were victimized significantly overstated their losses (and admitted to it), and the judge went beyond prosecution's suggestion for punishment. But I'm curious to know how competent you think the feds are in these types of legal matters.
Philosophical changes (Score:5, Interesting)
Have your recent law-related experiences (for lack of a more elegant term) brought about any major philosophical changes in your life ? By this, I mean not necessarily computer related changes, but in all aspects of your perception of the world.
Did you know you'd get caught? (Score:5, Interesting)
I guess what I'm most curious about is whether you knew the risks and took them anyway, or whether you thought you were covering your tracks and that the risks were minimal. It would be interesting to know if you knew you'd eventually get busted or whether you thought you were relatively "safe" from discovery.
Kids Staying Out Of Trouble (Score:1, Interesting)
What should our society and/or educational system do to better channel insatiably curious folks like you and me towards activities that society views as "helpful" and "beneficial," rather than "dangerous" and "criminal"?
BTW, I shook your hand at RSA 2002--I'll send you $10 if you can figure out who I am....
Compared to when you were arrested (Score:2, Interesting)
question (Score:5, Interesting)
The Most Important Question of All (Score:4, Interesting)
What are your thoughts about TCPA Initiative / Palladium? Do you see it as a destructive force in the computing industry?
Seeing.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Maeryk
Was signing away your rights vs early trial (Score:5, Interesting)
I enjoyed your bio, it's a pitty it was cut from your book.
Can you tell me why it was better to stay in prison and sign away your rights, than to go to trial early with a less prepared lawyer?
Weren't you just keeping yourself in prison longer that you should have been?
Do you really think that you would have got an even worse treatment if you went to trial earlier?
Question about Trust (Score:5, Interesting)
I realize that you may have put your cracking days behind you but can you really address the question of trust in the computer security industry.
How has your move into the security industry been recieved by the establishment, and how have you been dealing with the obvious question of you being trusted in the very area you manipulated.
What are the ten worst Windows vulnerabilities? (Score:2, Interesting)
How have things changed? (Score:3, Interesting)
Social Engineering (Score:5, Interesting)
Do you think that social engineering still plays as big a part now as it did in your heyday? Moreso maybe?
So how has it all changed? (Score:4, Interesting)
How is the 'net different now from the last time and are you going to miss it?
Do you think this will affect your job potential? (Score:4, Interesting)
Yes, I know it's only supposed to be one question per post, but I think these are pretty well related.
Re-Educating yourself for today's tech world. (Score:5, Interesting)
Published Stories vs. Reality (Score:5, Interesting)
What's it like? (Score:5, Interesting)
You are a notable exception. What's it like being a rock star, and how great is it that you'll now be able to fully capitalize on your fame in the financial sense? Would you be in as promising a position today had you not run afoul of the law?
Out of the Loop (Score:5, Interesting)
How did you/do you stay current on technologies without actual experience, and was it difficult without having an opportunity to put theory into practice?
Security Precautions (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Do you think this will affect your job potentia (Score:3, Interesting)
However, the questions still stand, albeit slightly modified. How difficult do you think it will be to find clients willing to accept your work, given your infamy? And, how long do you feel it will take you to catch up to the point where you can compete with other companies that are out there?
Tales from the other side (Score:2, Interesting)
Have you considered writing about your pursuit by system admins and law enforcement types? I read about you in a few "hacker" books. The only title I can remember now is "Takedown" by Tsutomu Shimomoura [amazon.com]. I would find it interesting to read about how much you knew about his pursuit of you. Do the terms of your release even allow to do this? (Slashdot readers, don't buy Takedown. It's a travesty of a book. Tsutomu comes across as extremely annoying, and spends half the book describing where they went to lunch. I was cheering for Kevin by the end.)
Social Engineering (Score:5, Interesting)
Do you have any stories about Social Engineering gone awry? That is, a situation where the mark saw right through your ruse and you just couldn't pull it off.
Welcome back Kevin (Score:5, Interesting)
There was a very interesting (and well balanced) program about you I saw in England a while ago, and in it it mentioned that you were put into solitary confinement (AFAIK) for 6 months, and weren't allowed to use (let alone go near) a telephone under the misaligned fear that you could "blow up the country with one call".
My question is: How does it make you feel when there are such ignorant and misinformed people who are in a position of authority (i.e. judges, police, government) and are there any ways in which you can use your experience to change these attitudes/problems for the good?
The Fugitive Game (Score:2, Interesting)
I was first introduced to your story by reading "The Fugitive Game" written my Jonathan Littman, and I wanted to ask you how close Mr. Littman came to showing your side of the events. The impression I got from the book was that it was rather egocentrically oriented around the author, and put him in a light of being a hero while you were put in a somewhat-villian like set. What are your thoughts in the way you were portrayed in this book, and how close to the truth does it fall?
Did rehabilitation work? (Score:5, Interesting)
My question is therefore, "Did you learn that it is wrong to intentionally destroy others' work for your own amusement? If so, what part of the punishment was most effective? And, if not, what additional punishment might have changed your mind?"
This is a serious question. I'm not just trolling.
Do u have a keygen for Wind0zes xp? (Score:5, Interesting)
How Do You Plan on Getting Up to Speed? (Score:5, Interesting)
Don't get me wrong, but you can only advise people on social engineering and easy passwords for so long...what kind of knowledge did you already have on PKI, VPNs, Firewalls, IDSes? There seems to be so much that has changed that just a cursory understanding of the principles behind these technologies does not seem sufficient to serve as a consultant (or at least one I would pay for)
Since so much has changed radically in the last few years, how have you kept up or do you plan to keep up at the moment? I can't see just reading a book on the latest OS specs and administrative tasks and being able to consult on them without hands on experience, and in your case you have quite a few years of language, os, security, and other operational technology advances to get up to speed with, etc.
So basically....what's you game plan to get back to a modern day equivalent of the proficiency you had several years ago?
Time Flies (Score:5, Interesting)
Yours is a unique perspective - almost like a kid that has had full run of the candy store and was taken outside and forced to watch (face pressed to the glass). Now you're allowed back in to a drastically changed candy landscape. (Pardon the candy analogy, but I'm fond of sugary things).
In your opinion, what technology has changed the greatest since you were actively involved in the scene?
What will be your primary technology focus when you get back online - in terms of getting back up to speed?
Do you feel intimidated at the prospect of catching up on so many things? Are there areas that you will simply ignore out of necessity but would like to learn more about if you had the time?
Do you have any desire to hack just for the joy of hacking/discovery or have you been turned off of that in light of the consequences?
Thank you for your answers and welcome back!
public opinion (Score:5, Interesting)
Addiction (Score:5, Interesting)
What kind of computer will you be using? (Score:3, Interesting)
F*ck all these questions (Score:3, Interesting)
or if I was a lawyer:
"Imagine a person in your situation. How would they get even?"
What we're all dying to know ;-) (Score:3, Interesting)
- Hackers
, which I was written with some interestingly similar parallels to your own life...Las Vegas and the PBX (Score:5, Interesting)
What was the story behind your part that trial? (And how much stuff do you have in storage?)
Do you still have skills? (Score:5, Interesting)
a question for Kevin (Score:3, Interesting)
What have you learned about selling yourself in this environment to overcome the objectections about your criminal convictions that might be of use to other slashdotters?
Side Note: some of us slashdotters have minor run ins with law in our past that coudl obviously if they are using computer kislls within the law make use of what you have learned in this area, Kevin..
Something I've wondered... (Score:2, Interesting)
What were you thinking? (Score:5, Interesting)
During your escapades which eventually landed you in hot water, you used the EFF account at The WELL to hide the files you stole from T. Shimomura. I'm still trying to figure out why the heck you did that. A simple "last" would have shown you that that was an active account, and you could have guessed that the user was probably technically savvy enough to notice the sudden spike in disk usage. Was that just an act of hacker hubris, or were you just not paying attention? Ultimately, it's what led to your downfall (FBI monitoring your keystrokes, live tracing of IP's) so I am well and truly curious.
-jim
Re:Skill sets? (Score:5, Interesting)
(these skill having to do with computers - even though you have not had access to computers during this time)
The scene (Score:3, Interesting)
You are now in a sense our Rip van Winkle in this regard, and I'd like to know what your initial impressions are about the status quo regarding attitudes towards security (now and then), and changes you've perceived in levels of implemented security (gained, of course, from reading, not practising:-) ), etc.
Describe our world for us as seen by someone who only knew it 8 years ago. Has the baby matured into something to be proud of?
Technological Rip Van Winkle (Score:5, Interesting)
I've been a hardcore programmer for the past 10 years, and even I find it difficult to keep up with all these new technologies, terms, etc, and I spend around 3 hours a night after work just dedicated to investigating new technologies.
Where you able to keep up with technology during your incarceration and probation period by just reading books, or were you even allowed to read books? How soon do you think it will take you to re-absorb enough knowledge and, more importantly, experience to make yourself useful in today's world?
Is a Consulting Business Really a Good Idea (TM) (Score:5, Interesting)
To be quite blunt, why would a corporation hire someone with a criminal history who hasn't touched a computer in 8 years?
With all that said, I do wish you the best of luck.
Re:The more things change... (Score:5, Interesting)
Q:
Setting an example (Score:3, Interesting)
In general, can you comment on the recent trends of "I just broke into your computer and stole all of your proprietary information, now hire me as a security consultant and pay me big bucks."
Should not the well-paying jobs in computer security be left to law-abiding citizens and not to this class of criminal?
Cracking for the government (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Your finest moment in court (Score:5, Interesting)
When you had your weekend radio show on KFI in Los Angeles, you had many stories that brought about changes in your tone, such as experiments with "drive thru"s involving intercepting and overriding the employees such that you could speak directly with the customer from a distance away. While many would argue (and I would certainly agree) that this isn't a technical marvel, it is pretty damn funny.
So, my question is: everyone knows the big things you've done that you've been punished for, what about the little things you've done that you look back on and smile about?
John Markoff (Score:5, Interesting)
Prison (Score:3, Interesting)
How about your personal life? (Score:5, Interesting)
One last chance? (Score:4, Interesting)
And how would you do it?....
Remorse? (Score:5, Interesting)
(BTW, I think Slashdot should start having people answer more questions, such as, say, 20-25. I've seen a *lot* of interesting questions, and would hate to see them go unanswered simply because they're not in the top ten.)
Catching Up (Score:3, Interesting)
My question is this: How do you feel that your incarceration has hurt you with regard to all the new-fangled stuff that has cropped up over the last 10 or so years? Even more interesting to me is: do you think that being removed from the tech world enhances your perspective on matters or hurts it or both?
Making that a question (Score:5, Interesting)
Mr. Mitnick:
There are some people who feel that it is unfair for you to use your reputation as an infamous cracker to sell books and build your new consulting business. They argue that you are being given a level of free publicity and exposure that other law-abiding citizens simply would not receive. How would you respond to these accusations? Do they concern you at all? Deep in your heart do you feel that it's unfair you are getting all this extra-special treatment but are willing to accept it anyhow because you need whatever help you can get? Do you feel that it's acceptable to accept some unusual help building your business because you were subject to equally unusual/extreme punishment?
Moderators: this is not a troll. I think this is a legitimate question that many people here would like answered.
GMD
How much has changed? (Score:2, Interesting)
Which of these differences are the most significant, and have any of these changes been a step backward?
Skills (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Scapegoat Sweepstakes? (Score:5, Interesting)
Do you hold ill will towards the friend you had in the early days that you bullied into giving you mainframe access at his work? I read in the book Hackers that you not only bullied him into letting you into his workplace after-hours, but you would make him drive you around and buy you Fatburgers. How much of this account is true?
Why did you trash our community operated system? (Score:4, Interesting)
http://www.nyx.net/history.html
Re:Big question (Score:5, Interesting)
ROFLMAO.
A half-serious question: "If the statute of limitations has expired, and/or your lawyers think you're safe from double jeopardy... What was the passphrase to all those files the DoJ couldn't (or wouldn't admit to being able to) decrypt after all these years?"
Re:Life Without the Internet - similar... (Score:5, Interesting)
Did spending an extensive period of time away from computers make you realize that you might just move away one day? or are you still fascinated like the first geek was?
Why are we wasting all this time on a criminal? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Thoughts (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.defensivethinking.com/ [defensivethinking.com]
He's going to be spending some time explaining his methods -- as opposed to using them.
power (Score:5, Interesting)
Travis
What do you have to offer (Score:5, Interesting)
What do you have to offer the security world after being in the clinker for so long. I do not doubt your oldschool skills in any sense, however tthe field of security and networking which you plan on consulting for has changed dramatically in the past few years.
What do you have to offer still? Despite your fame and being unargueably the cybercrime scapegoat, what skills do you possess that will benefit the security world in 2003? Have you had your relatives print 0-day exploits as well as your email? Do you have knowledge of current OS's and the security flaws they possess?
This is not a cheapshot at your abilities, however a simple question of how in the fast changing world of technology you have been able to maintain skills while not being able to touch a computer? By Moore's law you are way behind!
I was at the ass-end of one of your break-ins... (Score:2, Interesting)
Later one, one of the staff had a phone conversation with you. You only spoke with DTMF beeps, but the gist of the conversation was our asking you why you broke in...
and your answer was, apparently, to get the source code for the Supervisor Series, which BTW is now publicly available at DECUS.
So, I have two questions for you:
1. Was that really the reason for the break in?
2. Did you know that you had managed to get to the production machines, doing back-end securities processing? If so, what stopped you from doing more damage?
BTW... for what it's worth: I feel you deserved the jail time, you didn't deserve the unconstitutional railroading you got.
What do you most want to get your hands on? (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm sure that there is something new that you just can't wait to get your hands on. What is it and why?
Was the movie "Takedown" accurate? (Score:2, Interesting)
Good luck with your consulting buisness Kevin.
- zeno@cgisecurity.com
Court-assigned notebook (Score:2, Interesting)
Killing Time (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm curious about how your time was spent during your years behind bars. Did you take to reading to pass the time? Pick up crafts or lift weights?
I'm also curious about relationships you might have made. I think we are all familiar with the common inmates profile - some career criminals, some violent, some drug related - in *general*, poor and uneducated americans. I don't know what sort of background/upbringing you had, but i wonder if you had trouble making connections to people within the system, and in the connections you made - did you find it difficult to explain exactly why you were there? Did you get any respect for your talents in the computer field?
Buy Mitnick's stuff! (Score:1, Interesting)
War Games? (Score:2, Interesting)
The Real Story (Score:4, Interesting)
You've practically been granted sainthood by 2600. They started a movement that culminated in every geek in America pulling for you. But your fifteen minutes are up. Only us geeks are listening. Give us the straight scoop.
I was in Raleigh the day you got busted, and I vaguely remember the litany of offenses they named on WRAL when they showed your perp walk. You broke the law, right? You stole credit card numbers? You stole files from Shimomura's computer? (Which, yes, seems a bit less serious when I get fucking SPAM with files from random clueless people's computers, but that's a finer point and the law is notoriously bad about fine points.)
Clearly you've got skills, and I'm really looking forward to reading your book. But a movement based on your going to jail? Were you really, honestly, truly unjustly persecuted? Or, on reflection, did you crimes against society genuinely require some time in the pokey?
Social Engineering (Score:4, Interesting)
Hacker (Score:5, Interesting)
So you want to be a hacker? (Score:2, Interesting)
You are being watched (Score:5, Interesting)
Priorities (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyone here who wouldn't be in trouble if every one of their computer and copyright related "offenses" came to light can throw the first stone. Ever downloaded an unlicensed MP3 plugin for Redhat 8? Ever renamed irc to emacs to violate a school policy on computer use?
P2P and digital Rights (Score:2, Interesting)
Hacktivism (Score:2, Interesting)
Catch me if you can? (Score:3, Interesting)
Have you watched the new movie 'Catch Me If You Can'?
Handratty plays a very important role in getting Abiganle to work for the FBI while serving his sentence. Did you have anyone like Handratty around you or was the environment too hostile?
You look good (Score:4, Interesting)
And a little hint for someone that hasn't gotten email in a while, Staci doesn't really want you to test her new webcam for her.
Good luck.
-B
changing views from past to present (Score:1, Interesting)
If this ends up being a success for you, do you think that you will be able to look at your past with a positive, learning experience, point of view and can you see yourself letting go of some of the grudges spawned by the events leading to your sentencing?
Merchandise (Score:1, Interesting)
What did you miss the most? (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm sure that, with all the things you were forced to give up being away from any contact with computers for as long as you were, there were plenty of things you quickly got used to being without, and things you probably even forgot existed. However, I'm sure there were some things you really missed.
Of all the things you had to do without, what one thing about computers and the Internet did you miss the most?
NORAD (Score:2, Interesting)
Q: How did you get into those NORAD computers, and how accurate was War Games?
(NOTE: yes, the above was just a joke, please put down your flamethrowers)
But seriously, now that all this is more or less over, how do you feel about John Markoff? Do you hold a grudge, or have you moved on? How about Tsutomu Shimomura?
How close was Takedown? (Score:3, Interesting)
Is there anything specific that stands out as complete and utter BS?
Are you free to tell us what you really think? (Score:5, Interesting)
How free are you to tell us what you really think about things, and how much is your freedom of speech being moderated by the terms of your parole? For example, if you felt that (this is purely hypothetical), in response to IP issues you believed in taking actions that might be interpreted as criminal, would there be reprecussions for you if you stated them here?
How have you stayed intouch with tech these years? (Score:5, Interesting)
This I'm sure will be the first question that will come to mind when anyone considers paying for your services as a security expert. i.e.: how can you help a company when you have been "out of the loop" all these years? I figure that since most security concerns are usually on the social engineering side that this will not be a big deal, but when it comes to other more technical aspects, how will you be able to help them?
How do you view yourself and your own skills (Score:2, Interesting)
So... you tell us... How do you rate your own computer engineering skills? It's obvious what you think of your social engineering skills (and rightly so). But... how do you rate your own technical skills in such areas as logical thinking, programming ability, problem solving ability, creative solutions to complex technical problems, understanding of current protocols, methods, etc.
Coolest Hacks you've ever done (Score:5, Interesting)
Wish you were here (Score:2, Interesting)
Hacking and legitimacy (Score:4, Interesting)
Mideast Affairs (Score:2, Interesting)
Ethics (Score:2, Interesting)
Writing Free Software (Score:2, Interesting)
Computing and the future of civil liberties (Score:2, Interesting)
I have read on your site about the quite expeditive way your "pre-trial period" was handled by justice and how justice in its "moral" sense did not fulfill its job and how some of your essential rights were clearly denied to you.
After the 11/9 events, the new US national security directives, big corporations more and more trying to gain control over their users, what does your expertise in computer security and probably deep knowledge of obscure corporate and state practises (open wiretaps for example) incline you to think about the future of civil liberties in the US and as a whole (if you think you know anything worth telling about Europe for example) ?
And do you think you would accept to talk about in public if asked to do so by associations or political parties wishing to communicate on the subject ?
Walkmans (Score:2, Interesting)
What other crazy stuff did they think you could do while you were there?
Catch me if you can.... (Score:3, Interesting)
How did you write the book? (Score:2, Interesting)
Your current OS (Score:2, Interesting)
Do you now feel like a Count of Monte Cristo who just left prison?
a little generous with the mod points (Score:2, Interesting)
You missed the Internet boom and bust (Score:3, Interesting)
What's it been like watching it from the outside? Do you have any perspectives that are different from what people experienced going through it?
Did you crack my server? (Score:2, Interesting)
The search process shut SuperNet down for almost three days. We couldn't answer the phones, check email, or even touch our servers. It seemed certain that this was the last straw in a long list of problems, and that the company would fold. In a panic, I quit that job two weeks later. That was a bad decision, as it turns out, but one I still hold the mysterious cracker responsible for. That person changed my life, and not for the better.
So, was it you?
- Necron69
Abuses of the Total Information Awareness system (Score:4, Interesting)
If such a system gets built, how likely do you think that it will get compromised, how quickly will this happen and what techniques do you think would be used?
What was on your xmas list ? for the kids ? (Score:3, Interesting)
It must have been hell reading reviews and watching other people (your girlfriend) play with all the new computer technology out there...
What new technology was on your wish list this year, and what new or old tools/tech would you put on the list for the kids today who want to become as masterful with systems as you once were ?
Question: (Score:1, Interesting)
Back in the saddle or.....? (Score:4, Interesting)
Follow up to that question; are you more or less likely to work on a project that could be construed as a (for example) DMCA violation because of your past?
Your true story (and Markoff) (Score:2, Interesting)
Frankly this personal, social, exploration story is the book I think many of us would like to see, though of course I bought "Art of Deception."
On that note, did you ever receive any compensation from John Markoff or from any of the print/film versions of "Takedown"?
Re:How about.... (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:No Offense meant, but.. (Score:3, Interesting)
What a defeatist attitude for a hacker. Come on, part of the hacker ethic is to do more than anyone could imagine with the most meagre resources. A few minutes reflection and I'm sure you could come up with a few ideas. Make a few not very far fetched assumptions #1 Assume the encrypted data is the most sensitive/incriminating/useful data that he had - secrets he drudged up in his hacking exploits, passwords maybe programs such as virii, trojan horses etc... #2 Assume he has sympathetic hacker friends out there willing engage in attacks for him. A phone call to a friend with some user names & passwords could lead to interesting results - a tap on the prosecutors phone would allow Kevin to really "assist his own defense." Something by the way WELL within the capablities of someone with information found on the UNencrypted portion of kevins hard drive. A trojan horse in a file he provides to his lawyers who open it at their location WITH net access is a little more difficult but all the more appealing because of the challenge. Blackmailing some executive that doesn't want his wife/shareholders/coworkers/competitors to know something Kevin has found during one of his exploits could be a windfall for his legal defense fund. Use some imagination.
Yes, that's paranoid, but then again this is a guy that had thoroughly compromised the systems he attacked. His control over the phone system was total, he knew when he was tapped and allegedly tapped the phones of investigators & generally screwed around with the phone service of people that pissed him off. He read the emails of the DEC security team that was tracking his exploits. He made the (credible coming from him) claim that he had screwed up the credit records of the FBI agents trailing him. And he not only refused to give prosecutors access to the files (understandable) but he also refused to tell the court *anything* about the encrypted information. I suppose if I thought his hacking was cute harmless pranks I wouldn't care but I wouldn't trust him without very stringent oversight. Which was the final result (and still the cause of great bitching and moaning)
The case against granting him bail was obvious and overwhelming on it's face.
Then spend 15 minutes to hold the hearing, deny him bail, and that's that.
I've already agreed that this would have been the best way to deal with the situation. BUT I can't get all worked up over it in this case. It would have been an empty formality given his history and Kevin has nobody but himself to blame for that history. That the judge made a summary judgement just based on the immediately obvious merits of the situation was perhaps unfair but a hearing wouldn't have changed the result nor was it's denial as grave a breach of his civil liberties as his breathless hyperbole of Kevins star-struck admirers would suggest.