O O Ø O O O O
Booyah, Kevin’s Free!
Help me out here, ’cause I just don’t get it. Kevin Mitnick, convicted criminal, is now free to do whatever he damn well pleases with a computer. (He’s been out for a while, but today marks the day where he can enjoy the same pleasure of downloading pr0n as you or I.) People think this is wonderful news, and are partying because he’s now free. Why? Because Kevin Mitnick, for whatever reason, has been portrayed as a martyr to the geek masses. I call bullshit.
Mitnick was not a hacker, he was a cracker. He monitored and/or broke into systems he had no business being in. He was convicted of stealing software and information from the systems he cracked for (at the very least) personal use. He was convicted of stealing services from companies that you and I have to pay for. He claimed he didn’t do it, did it to avoid wrongful persecution, or was doing it to make people realize how important security was. Funny how he never bothered to let the people who owned the systems know how vulnerable they were until after he was caught. While we don’t know the whole story, we do know Mitnick was convicted of breaking the law.
Today marks his first day of “freedom.” This means he is allowed to play with phones, networks, and computers again, without fear of being sent back to the slammer. All the weenies of the Free Kevin! campaign must be out there celebrating Pint Day, oblivious to the sacrilege they are committing. I’m happy that someone has served their time and is now ready to go back into the big blue room, but I don’t condone the celebration or understand how people can think Mr. Mitnick was unjustly persecuted.
The method of prosecution was questionable, with being held close to five years without a trial and all, but it was a very unusual case. You and I weren’t there and only have what the media reported to form our opinions. Obviously, that doesn’t stop people like me from publicizing opinions on his guilt (or lack thereof). I’m not questioning how Mr. Mitnick was treated during his prosecution, I’m just a little cheesed that a lot of people seem to forget why he was being prosecuted in the frst place. The courts convicted him, and in this particular case I am inclined to agree with what the courts decided.
Despite being forbidden to profit directly from his experiences—or even tell people about them—until 2010, I think the publicity surrounding Mr. Mitnick guarantees he’s going to do well in the future. He’s had a guest spot on Alias, he’s selling the old tools of his trade on eBay, and he’s published a number of papers and a book about security that get read by people who should read them (and they’re actually well written). He’s also got a consulting company that is going to do well just because he started it, and he’s getting a /. interview to “celebrate” his release.
Not bad. I think he’s going to do all right now that he has the opportunity to put a lot of the last decade behind him.
I just have one question. Would you hire a crook?
Most of you wouldn’t hire a common criminal (and don’t get me wrong, Kevin Mitnick is a very uncommon criminal, but a convicted criminal nonetheless), but you’d probably consider hiring Mr. Mitnick because of what he knows. This guy broke into umpteen systems, took whatever he wanted for whatever future reason, and kept on breaking into other systems. Contrary to the schtick he is schlepping (ooh, alliteration), he didn’t do it to educate people on the vulnerabilities of their systems. He did it for his own self-interest and (possibly) gain. He has apologized, but he also claims that most of what he did was to cover his tracks or to demonstrate that the FBI was using illegal methods to monitor his actions. Interesting theory, I guess in his world two wrongs do make a right.
I won’t judge Kevin Mitnick, that’s already happened. Maybe he has been wrongly persecuted in some areas, but he sure isn’t a saint. In spite of my personal feelings towards his conduct before being convicted, I actually agree with a lot of what he says, especially about things like that travesty of legislation, The Patriot Act. I think it’s obvious that he’s a very smart person, and can actually help companies and individuals in securing their information. His case was very unusual, and his punishment equally so. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s broken the law in the past.
I just want people to really think about what they’re supporting when they celebrate the fact that Mr. Mitnick can now get back at a computer. I think it’s great he has a second chance at proving to his critics, me included, that he will use his powers for good instead of evil. I just hope he doesn’t fuck it up, and that people remember how he got himself into the mess of the last decade (and a bit) in the first place.
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
PD DLXXXIII