Uber-Hacker Mitnick Speaks

kevin Mitnick’s court-mandated Internet ban is about to lift – he speaks with the NY Times Magazine:

You were the F.B.I.’s most wanted hacker — in jail in 1988 and then again from 1995 to 2000 for breaking into and tampering with corporate networks. When you got out, the Feds said you couldn’t use the Internet for three years. What was it like being cut off?

It was a huge impediment to getting employment. The judge had been dealing with me for 10 or 12 years, and she bought into a lot of the myth of Kevin Mitnick — that I could launch nuclear missiles by whistling into a phone.

So how do you check your e-mail?

I can have someone connect my laptop to the Internet — like my girlfriend — then hit ”send” and ”receive” for me.

So you’re allowed to look at an Internet terminal but not use it?

It’s kind of ridiculous. I’m just doing what they want me to do, because they’re in charge of me — whatever makes them happy. I basically can’t go to the bathroom without getting permission, if it’s an electronic toilet.

….The F.B.I. and C.I.A. are warning about attacks by terrorist hackers. Is this a real danger?

I don’t know the capabilities of our enemies. But I found it quite easy to circumvent security at certain phone companies throughout the United States. So if an inquisitive kid can do it, why can’t a cyberterrorist do it?