Ask Kevin Mitnick 285
The hacker with perhaps the most famous first name around, Kevin Mitnick, has gone from computer hacking of the sort that gets one on the FBI's Most Wanted list (and into years of solitary confinement) to respected security consultant and author, helping people minimize the sort of security holes he once exploited for fun. His new book is called Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker; it's his first since the expiration of an agreement that he could not profit from books written about his criminal activity. Kevin's agreed to answer your questions; we'll pass the best ones on to him, and print his answers when they're ready. Note: Kevin also answered Slashdot questions most of a decade ago; that's a good place to start. Please observe the Slashdot interview guidelines: ask as many questions as you want, but please keep them to one per comment.
Colbert Report (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Will the authorities ever understand (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Hi, Kevin. I'm one of your victims. (Score:2, Informative)
Hi, Kevin. I was told that my credit card information was among the thousands you stole from Netcom, way back in the day.
You moron.
He didn't 'steal' anything. That file with credit card numbers had been floating around for MONTHS. He was only guilty of having a copy, not for being the one who 'stole' it.
http://blockyourid.com/~gbpprorg/2600/the_world.txt [blockyourid.com]
"With regards to the credit card numbers, this is far more misleading. For one
thing, only one computer system (Netcom) had its credit card numbers accessed,
not "computer systems around the nation." And this compromise was not even news
the Autumn, 1994, issue of 2600 reported it nearly half a year ago Apparently,
Netcom did nothing to secure the credit card numbers of its subscribers and,
despite multiple warnings and basic common sense, kept this sensitive
information online."
"Little mention is made of the fact that not one of the
20,000 credit card numbers lying around on Netcom was ever used by Mitnick, nor
was he ever suspected of benefiting financially or causing any damage."
[emphasis mine]