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| Saga o Muthuke |
+----------------+----- - - part I
(c) Sergey Protasov
When I decided to write a biography of Mitnik and began
collecting materials, I encountered the usual problem of any
history: sources contradict each other, dates do not match,
even the names of the characters allow for different interpretations (for example, the person who passed
Mitnik in 1989 to FBI agents his friend DiCicco is called
Lenny, then John). Another, more subtle problem is the selection of facts
and their presentation is largely determined by INTERPRETATION
the event and/or person about whom it isspeech. Through efforts
journalists, especially John Markoff, was created very
expressive and memorable IMAGE of our hero: authentic
sociopath with a puffy face, manic "vandalism"
government, corporate and university computer
system" with the sole purpose of taking revenge on the people who offended him and
to all humanity - another kind of "mad scientist".
Many hackers opposed this interpretation of Mitnick's personality.
And cam he, it seems, was far from delighted with her. How
the press attacked our hero when he refused to give
interview for free! (It is known that Markoff and Shimomyra are behind
they got their book about how they caught Mitnik, no less
$75,000; and there is also a film planned! and a computer game!) Difficult
restore the real picture of what happened based on
written evidence, but even more difficult to reconstruct it
MEANING. Therefore, I will only try to systematically present the facts
(including the facts of interpretation); what follows is up to the reader.
And another side point attracted me to this whole story: we
Mitnik and I were born in the same year. So I willy-nilly
viewed his story as a virtual version of his own
fate. No, I'm not talking about identification here. Between us
there is at least one important difference: I write oMuthuke, a
He’s unlikely to write about me.
So, Kevin D. Mitnick was born in 1964 in North Hills, USA.
Kevin's parents divorced when Emy was three years old, giving him
a trait common to many hackers: the absence of a father. He lived
in Los Angeles with her mother, who worked as a waitress and
the child doesn't have much time. (Hereinafter - interpretation: not
it's amazing that Kevin chose the real world, it suits him
indifferent, the virtual world in which he only found
freedom and power). At the age commonly called
transitional, some begin to write poetry, others run away from home.
Kevin also fled - to the land of computer networks. And became his
kind of a poet - a hacking virtuoso.
He accomplished his first hacker feat when emy was
16, by infiltrating the administrative system of the school in which he
studied. A characteristic touch: he did not change the ratings, although he could
do it. For him, something else was more important - the fact that he
can do it. Well, the admiration of his hacker friends, the same
teenagers from the outskirts of Los Angeles, like him cam. The main thing is
entertainment consisted of various kinds of telephone pranks. (They
could, for example, be attributed to someone's home phone number
payphone status, and every time the owner removedhandset
a voice recorded on tape said: "Please lower
twenty cents.") Kevin's first run-in with the law occurred in
1981, when he hacked a computer system as a joke
North American Air Defense in Colorado. It was emy
then 17.
He was unusually greedy for knowledge - especially those that
concerned telephone switching. (He went to university, unlike
me, did not enroll - he remained that way all his life
autodidact.) The nasty phone companies kept useful
information was hidden, and Mitnik had to crawl into
Pacific Bell corporate computers to get your hands on
textbooks on COSMOS and MicroPort, as well as necessary
software. He and his entire company were soon arrested (they turned them in
girlfriend of one of the gang members). Mitnik was sentenced to three
months at the Los Angeles Juvenile Rehabilitation Center
year probation. He quickly violated his release conditions by breaking into
computer system of the local university (more precisely, it
just used the university computer for
unauthorized access from the Pentagon APRAnet network), for
that he received six months in prison, which became his true
university. By the timehe came out of there, he knew o
operation of the world's largest computer network (telephone system)
as much as the best people at Bell Labs. He learned
create toll-free numbers, call from someone else's number,
disconnect lines at will and eavesdrop on any conversations.
In the hacker community he was known by the nickname "Condor", taken from
from Pollack's film, where Robert Redford plays a man
hiding from the CIA using his manipulative skills
telephone system. And for the telephone company he became James
Bond - with a number not recorded anywhere, which ended
numbers 007.
Throughout the 80s Mitnik honed his skills,
playing telephone and computer practical jokes (including
number and with his friends), and successfully avoided meeting with
by the authorities. He settled in the Californian town of Thousand Oaks c
a girl he met during a summer computer course
school. But the calm life did not last long. In December 1987
Mitnick was arrested again - this time on charges of theft
computer programs from Santa Cruz Operation; sentence - 3 years
conditionally. But less than a year had passed before a new arrest followed - for
stealing private computer code from a research
Laboratories Digital Equipment Corp. in PaloAlta. I wonder what
Mitnik was betrayed by his friend and fellow hacker Lenny
DiCicco, with whom they carried out night attacks on
Digital Equipment computers, trying to copy from there
VMS operating system. They say that when FBI agents took
Mitnik in a multi-story garage parking (the scenery is clean
Hollywood!), Mitnick asked DiCicco: "Why did you do that?" -
“Because you are a threat to society,” he allegedly replied.
The court used similar wording, rejecting the petition
about Mitnik's release on bail. The assistant prosecutor stated:
"This man is very dangerous and needs to be kept away from the computer
away." And the head of the computer crimes department
LAPD Detective James M. Black said
literally the following: “It is several orders of magnitude higher than what
characterizes an ordinary hacker." Amy was given a year in a light prison
regime, of which he spent eight months in solitary confinement.
In addition, Judge Mariana P. Pfelzer appointed emy
compulsory six-month course of treatment for "computer disease"
dependency", rightly believing that a hacker, deprived
hacking capabilities, will experience the strongest psychological
withdrawal symptoms Federal prosecutors also ensured that Mitnik
restricted the use of the telephone - in fear,that he can
somehow gain access to an external computer.
Characterizing the psychology of his patient, the director
rehabilitation service Harriet Posetto emphasized
compensatory nature of his addiction: “Hacking gives Kevin
a sense of self-respect that emy lacks in real life.
Greed and the desire to do harm have nothing to do with it... It’s like he
big kid playing Dungeons and Dragons. However,
as a condition of his release in 1990, he was required to
so that he no longer touches the computer and modem.
He was released on probation and assigned to him
inspector supervising his behavior. And then they began
strange things happen... Phone number of his "supervisor"
suddenly cam switched off by itself, to the great surprise nothing o
that of an unknown telephone company. On the judge's credit account
God knows what started to happen. And from the court computer in Santa Cruz
all references to Mitnik's arrest and subsequent
verdict... (In addition, according to one source, Mitnik
soon violated his recognizance not to leave the place and flew to Israel to see
with hacker friends.)
In general, Mitnik worked quietly, doing research
and giving paid consultations.He began to lead a healthy lifestyle
and by June 1992 had lost 100 pounds. Face
it has lost the earthy puffiness characteristic of children
computer dungeon. He even became a vegetarian... But then
his brother died (apparently from an overdose of heroin), and Mitnik again
lost his temper. In September 1992, the FBI obtained a search warrant for the apartment.
Mitnick in Calabasas, California. He was suspected of
in particular, in unauthorized entry into computers
California Department of Motor Vehicles, which
accused him of causing $1 million in damages (he did this very
simple: pretended to be a police officer and got his hands on a bunch of
classified information, including a driver's license along with
photographs.) Authorities also believed that Mitnik had a hand in
hacked the Army computer system, and also penetrated the FBI
dossier. But most of all they were interested in who was conducting the eavesdropping
telephone conversations of employees from the security department at Pacific
Bell". Mitnik did not like these questions, and he fled.
In November, a federal search was announced for Mitnik. But he
as if he fell through the ground. The FBI believed he had fabricated
himself a whole series of identification documents, which with his skills was,
In general, it's a piece of cake. (Who doesn't understand what we're talking about,
watch the movie "Network".) There was evenman arrested, wrongly
mistaken by the authorities for Mitnick. But it wasn't him. For two or more
Mitnik disappeared.
Signs of its existence began to surface
sometime in mid-1994. Motorola reported that
someone copied software from their computer,
allowing you to control cellular communications. Dan Farmer, creator
the sensational SATAN (Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing
Networks) - a program that looks for "holes" in computer systems,
said that a hacker stole an early version of his brainchild. Technique
These attacks, according to the FBI, were characteristic of Mitnick.
In July, police visited grandparents in Las Vegas
Kevin, hoping to persuade them to force his grandson
get educated. His grandmother said that he was very afraid of prison
conclusions. Those eight months that he served in solitary confinement, he
I felt terrible. However, when asked to influence Kevin, they
They replied that it was beyond their strength.
Authorities nearly caught up with Mitnik in October while investigating
complaints McCaw Cellular Communication Inc. o that cracker
stole serial electronic numbers of cell phones of this
companies. When the police raided Mitnick's Seattle apartment,
where he lived under an assumed name, shefound several cell phones
telephone numbers, textbooks outlining the procedure for duplicating numbers
and a scanner that Mitnick probably used to monitor
police operations to capture him. It turned out that the last three
he lived near the University of Washington for a month and
worked at a local hospital as a computer technician.
"He led a completely harmless life in Seattle," he said.
Federal prosecutor Ivan Optmah, who also provided the name,
which was used by Mitnick - Brian Merrill. "It was very
a quiet, completely ordinary person,” said Sherry Scott,
secretary of the department in which Mitnik worked. - He never
talked about his personal life. He just came and worked
your business."
+----------------+
| Saga o Muthuke |
+----------------+----- - - part II
And now we come to the culminating moment of our history.
On December 25, 1994, Christmas night, Mitnik invaded
home computer of Tsutomu Shimomura - leading American
computer security specialist, famous in
in particular, with its developments to prevent intrusion into
computer systems. Later manythey said that Mitnik was just
bad luck - he chose the wrong person to attack. Others
It is believed that Mitnik, possessed by some kind of delusions of grandeur,
simply went too far. The third point of view is also interesting, which
Time columnist Joshua Kutthep said: Mitnik is tired of being
a boy lost in Cyberspace and unconsciously
I wanted him to finally get caught.
Be that as it may, events developed like this. On Christmas,
when Shimomura went skiing in Nevada on vacation,
someone (we already know who exactly) penetrated his super-protected
home computer in Solana Beach, California, and started copying
his files are hundreds of classified files. One maructpaht from
Supercomputer Center in San Diego, where Shimomura worked,
I noticed changes in the system “log” files and quickly
realized what was happening. (All this turned out to be possible
thanks to what Shimomura installed on his computer
a program that automatically copies "journal" entries to
backup computer in San Diego.) The student called Shimomyre, and
he rushed home to take inventory of the stolen goods.
While he was figuring out what was what, the offender inflicted something new on him
insult. On December 27, he sent Shimomyre an audio message,
where is the computer distorted voicesaid: "You're an asshole (Damn
you). My technique is the best... Don't you know who I am...
Me and my friends... We will kill you." And as if there was a second voice
in the background assented: “Exactly, boss, your kung fu is very cool.”
(a malicious hint at Shimomura’s nationality).
A touchy samurai known for his rigor and hatred
to "bad manners", vowed to take revenge on the offender who inflicted
emy personal insult, and questioned his reputation as
specialist. To do this, he set out to reconstruct the complete
picture of the incident and understand how you can catch the “looter”,
using the electronic traces he left behind.
Without going into details, computer attack techniques
Shimomura was like that. First, the hacker penetrated the "friendly"
computer at Layola University in Chicago. "Friendly"
means that this computer had permission to access files in
Shimomura's computer in California. The whole trick was
to falsify the original address of the system from where they came
packages on the Shimomyrovsky computer, which Mitnik successfully and
done.
The attack was carried out unusually skillfully - after all, Mitnik
I had to work blindly. It is known that when the system
receives the package, she sends it tomessage sending computer,
confirmation of receipt. Not being able to see these
messages (after all, they arrived on the computer where he allegedly
was located), Mitnik was nevertheless able to guess the numbers
sequences and thereby assign the corresponding
numbers for further packets sent. (Theoretical possibility
This was predicted by Steve Bellovin from Bell Labs back in
1989, but Mitnick's attack is the first known use
this technique in practice.)
By downloading Shimomura's files (in particular, software
computer security), Mitnik transferred them to
dormant account with The Well, a California company,
providing access to the Internet.
When Shimomura realized what had happened, he
spoke about the technique used by kpakepom at a conference in
Cohome, California, and also made technical details public
attacks. He has always been a supporter of open discussion
flaws in the systems, although many believed that this only encourages
hackers. CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) sent out to
network messages, warning system administrators that such
trouble can happen to them too, and called them tovigilance. Shimomura switched to establishing
who exactly hacked his system.
On January 27, system operator The Well drew attention to
an unusually large amount of data on an account that would normally
was almost empty. He contacted one of the account owners -
Bruce Coball, programmer at Computers, Freedom and
Privacy Group. Koball was shocked to see Shimomura's files in his possession,
and soon called emy. (The Well technicians later discovered more
a dozen accounts used by the hacker - mostly
"sleeping", where he stored the information he stole.) Then, when
files with passwords and codes for many
companies, including more than 20 thousand credit card numbers,
stolen from NetCom Inc. (another online service provider),
Federal authorities got involved in the game. The FBI has compiled a list
suspects, and Mitnick was one of the first on this list.
Firstly, the hacking of Shimomyrov’s computer was, throughout
appearance, "show of force" and did not pursue monetary
goals. Secondly, the hacker adhered to the rule of not storing data,
who can expose him, in their own car.
The main tip turned out to be files of programs for manipulation
cell phone. "Cell phone codes intrigued us,"
saidShimomura, - since we knew that Kevin was eager to
them."
To somehow stir up the person who has invaded his
system, Shimomura sent a recording of his voice to newsgroups.
as an audio file. The bait worked - to answering machine
Shimomura received another mocking message: “Oh, Tsutomu, my
educated student, I see that you have sent my voice across the network... I
very upset, my son..."
Shimomura installed round-the-clock monitoring on The Well,
allowing you to detect any unusual activity. With
teams of assistants from the FBI and the National Security Agency
he patiently tracked all the actions of the hacker and the route that
his computer messages went through. It was determined that the hacker
in many cities used public computers, which
enable the user to gain access to the system without
paying for long distance calls. As a springboard for his attacks he
I used NetCom. Analyzing message paths and intensity
traffic in different locations, Shimomura concluded that the hacker
is located somewhere in the area of Durheim Airport near the city of Raleigh in
North Carolina. Federal agents have located Shimomura
telephone connection in Palaikha, but it turned out that the line was again
againcloses on itself, as if having no beginning. However,
It turned out that the search area could be narrowed down to two kilometers
zones.
On February 12, Shimomura flew to Raleigh (as they wrote in the newspapers,
"in a hurry I forgot my spare socks"). Tracking Team
Mitnik, which he headed, included federal agents,
engineers from Sprint Cellular, as well as a famous journalist from
New York Times John Markoff, author of Cyberpunk
(co-written by his then-wife Katie Hefner),
dedicated to Mitnik and other hackers. (Markoff himself later
admitted that he shared information about habits with Shimomyra
Mitnik, but denied that he was part of the search team, insisting
on the fact that he was only acting as a reporter.) Group
patrolled the streets in cars equipped with a device for
interception of cell phone frequencies. Fearing that Mitnick might
eavesdrop on messages exchanged between police officers,
Shimomura insisted that all search party radios in
the Players Club area - a place where they believed
the object of their search is located - were disabled. This
the precaution was not in vain... In the end
Mitnik was spotted.Late in the evening of February 14, Valentine's Day, federal
Judge Wallace Dixon signed a search warrant for apartment 202 in
Player Club, which Mitnick has been filming since the beginning of February, using
name Glenn Thomas Keyes. February 15, at 1.30 a.m., when Shimomura
determined that Mitnik had made contact, agents knocked on the door
door. A few minutes later Mitnik opened the door and was
arrested.
When Shimomura and Mitnick first met face to face at
preliminary court hearing in Paleich, Mitnik glanced at
Shimomyryu and said: “Hello, Tsutomu. I respect your
skill." Shimomura didn’t say a word in response and only
nodded arrogantly.
Later, in an interview, Shimomura stated: "From what I
I saw him, he doesn’t seem like such a great specialist to me.” And
added: "The problem is not Kebuhe, the problem is that most
systems are really poorly protected. What Mitnik did
remains feasible today." Shimomura not especially
resists when they try to present him as a hero who has overcome
a villain who terrifies the inhabitants of Cyberspace. But then
that Mitnik left behind traces that could help him get caught,
seems emy a manifestation of bad taste. According to himwords,
the only feeling he has for
Mitnik, this is a pity. "It seems to me that the authorities could
do something more elegant than just sit him down
grate".
Mitnik, nevertheless, was imprisoned. Information about this period
his life is very meager, which is not at all surprising. With one
sides, a story about prison routine, of course, cannot
compare in entertainment with nobectbobahuem about hunting
person (it’s like in love stories - who is interested in reading o
what happened after the wedding?) On the other hand, cama severity
the prison regime (more on this below) is not favorable
free flow of information. Thirdly, people making on Muthuke
money, painting him as a monster and a maniac (I mean before
all of Shimomyry and Markoff, who are now traveling around America,
promoting their book), are concerned with making money and
further, a powerless prisoner, beaten by cokamephukamu,
Doesn't fit well with the character they created. (He himself
Mitnik never aspired to popularity and became a “superstar”
freely.) Therefore, all the facts given below are taken from
the only source is Jonathan Littman's book "The Fugitive
Game: Online With Kevin Mitnick", which is preparing to be released inpublishing house Little Brown and parts of which were published in
alt.2600.moderated.
Jonathan Littman is a journalist who has been in touch with
Mitnik when he was “on the run” and who kept it when Mitnik
I ended up in a place where it’s not easy to escape. "Mitnik wrote to me almost
every week on yellow official paper, listing your
prison hardships and complaining about the lack of text
processor," says Littman. These letters abound
characteristic Internet abbreviations; at the beginning of each
indicates the exact time when Mitnik began writing the letter - as if
he was still online. As Littman notes, although
Mitnik has not lost his sense of humor, you can feel it in his jokes
bitterness. For example, when the prison authorities admitted that they
read Mike Wallace's letter, where he offers Mitnick
appear on the television program 60 Minutes, Mitnick remarked:
"Poetic justice, huh?.."
By October 1995, Mitnik had changed three prisons - one worse than the other,
judging by his letters. In the first he was beaten and robbed
two cokamephukamu and barely avoided collisions with others. When
he wrote a complaint that the vegetarian diet he
demanded, reduced to sandwiches withpeanut butter, and what emy
refused to prescribe medications for stress and stomach pain,
the authorities ordered his transfer to a stricter prison
mode. In the new prison, the first thing they confiscated was his books,
underwear and toiletries. Amy was refused again
in medications, and after he was hospitalized on June 18
diagnosed with esophageal spasms, his lawyer stated that "deliberate
ignoring the serious medical needs of his ward
is a violation of constitutional norms. However, before
a federal judge managed to give effect to this complaint, Mitnik was
transferred to a third prison. The conditions there were still
worse. Besides him, there were seven other prisoners in the cell. In prison
there was no law library (which is actually
assumed by federal law). There was no
no radio, no TV. Every prisoner was allowed to have
no more than two books at a time. For eight people in a cell
there was only one pencil stub that was taken away
after lunch. Mitnik was given one sheet of paper per day.
Meanwhile, in the wild, Mitnik was persuaded this way and that. On
conference dedicated to computer security issues,
held on March 28, 1995 in Burlingame, California, Cary
Heckman compared the challenge that Mitnickthrew it to the specialists
security, with the challenge posed to the United States in 1958 by the launch
Russian satellite (Mitnik - satellite: cama self-evidently
pun). By now, a huge amount has been dedicated to Mitnik.
number of publications, only since the beginning of this year (1996)
saw 3 books o Muthuke ("Takedown" - joint creation
Shimomura and Markoff, which is now being made into a film - only
one of them), his “case” is the subject of ongoing debate.
(Links to electronic publications about Muthuke cm. on the Internet at
address: http://takedown.com/coverage.html.) It is called
"computer terrorist", "the most dangerous guy who
ever sat down at the keyboard," others see him as a hero and
a role model, others think that he is nothing special
didn’t... Mitnik himself, it seems, doesn’t really understand who he is and
that he's on camera. He was just doing what emy LIKED
engage. And this is what it led to... In a letter to Lytton, he
asks if he thinks he should be sentenced to
long term. Lytton couldn't find an answer.
But others do not experience any hesitation. Prosecutor David
Schindler, for example, stated in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he
will do everything to ensure that Mitnik gets the maximum sentence for a hacker -
greater than Poulsen's y (4 years and 3 months). Heaccused Mitnick
in 23 cases of fraud using illegal access
to the computer and causing damage totaling more than $80 million.
and demanded for him, accordingly, from 8 to 10 years in prison -
as much as is required for murder. (According to estimates
Associated Press, the total sentence for all charges would be
460 years in prison). Thanks to the efforts of the lawyer, 22 charges were dropped
and there was only one thing left for which Mitnik could only be convicted
only for 8 months (which means he would have been released by
Christmas 1995). At the time of writing this article (mid
January 1996) I was unable to determine whether the trial was completed
proceedings and to what date Mitnick was ultimately
sentenced. In any case, there is no news of his release.
arrived.
---------------------------------------------
Information about Kebuhe Muthuke on the Internet
(featured pages)
http://www.gulker.com/ra/hack
The Kevin Mitnick/Tsutomu Shimomura affair
http://www.ora.com/oracom/crime/index.html
Fighting Computer Crime (collection of articles)
http://www.takedown.com
Takedown by Tsutomu Shimomura and John Markoff
http://www.well.com/user/jlittman
The Fugitive Game by Jonathan Littman
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