His famous metal lock-pick business card - https://imgur.com/a/caareoI
A rather terrible video I made many years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzQY3KgOT8E
A man was gifted his dream car by Kevin Mitnick, who he helped put in prison
161–170 of 173 posts
Re: A man was gifted his dream car by Kevin Mitnick, who he helped put in prison
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's in his (Mitnick's) autobiography Ghost in the Wires. In his telling of the story they put him in a more restrictive environment exactly because of the reason given (launching nukes by whistling into a phone)
At the time people were using whistles to make free long distance calls, so I can understand where they were coming from. The part I can't understand is believing that phone-whistles are connected to our nuclear launch system and not simultaneously trying to put nuclear missile operators in jail for incompetence. "Oh the world might end with some whistling? Definitely punish the whistlers, that's where the problem is…
The Judge in the case was a complete luddite and actually claimed to believe this. I still don't know for sure if she was just saying it, or she was that dumb.
Re: A man was gifted his dream car by Kevin Mitnick, who he helped put in prison
#163I'm going to defend Kevin here because I see a lot of comments from people I am sure have no valid reason to be hating on him. Kevin was particularly annoying because he never failed to penetrate a target. The reason that's annoying is it just takes one slip, one weak point, one inattentive admin and it's over. People will stay mad about that. I get it. But those who say he had no talent are just ignorant. His goal w…
Shawn and I worked together at Novell back when this was going down. It was fascinating at the time and more so in hindsight. FWIW, Shawn's a really good guy.
Been a crazy ride, Bill!
Re: A man was gifted his dream car by Kevin Mitnick, who he helped put in prison
#164I'm going to defend Kevin here because I see a lot of comments from people I am sure have no valid reason to be hating on him. Kevin was particularly annoying because he never failed to penetrate a target. The reason that's annoying is it just takes one slip, one weak point, one inattentive admin and it's over. People will stay mad about that. I get it. But those who say he had no talent are just ignorant. His goal w…
I'm old enough to remember Kevin as both hero and villain. People are complex, Kevin seemed to be no exception. His exploits - and the ones of those who caught him - were fascinating to follow in realtime. But be honest... How sweet is that 911?
I'm going with 'pretty sweet'
Re: A man was gifted his dream car by Kevin Mitnick, who he helped put in prison
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
>He got all of the "Free Kevin" attention because of how long he was left in jail before trial and then being stuck in solitary confinement after sentencing for months. That was uncalled for on the part of DOJ. >He was also autistic, a lot of the behavior can be explained through that lens. I'm autistic. Maybe I should go commit a bunch of felonies to increase my chances of a good job and stature in the hacker commun…
> I have friends who did things like take a gap year to travel the world or met their spouses on nights I stayed in to study, and some evenings when browsing HN I feel very sad that I wasted my 20s on a society that does not care about me. I'm glad you have finally recognized the problem. Stop living for your idea of others and start living for yourself.
>Stop living for your idea of others and start living for yourself.
Unfortunately, I exhausted my emergency fund trying for certs and attempting to escape a domestic violence situation, so I do not have that option. I'm trapped.
Re: A man was gifted his dream car by Kevin Mitnick, who he helped put in prison
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
>He got all of the "Free Kevin" attention because of how long he was left in jail before trial and then being stuck in solitary confinement after sentencing for months. That was uncalled for on the part of DOJ. >He was also autistic, a lot of the behavior can be explained through that lens. I'm autistic. Maybe I should go commit a bunch of felonies to increase my chances of a good job and stature in the hacker commun…
Vienna waits for you
>Vienna waits for you
I've been there before, but its my understanding I'd have visa issues doing anything beyond tourism.
Re: A man was gifted his dream car by Kevin Mitnick, who he helped put in prison
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
The OWASP conference is being held there next week, so in a way, yes?
But is it a good place to meet future spouses? Because missing that that seems to be the main problem of the poster above.
I was more lamenting that I thought I was trading my time for income, and ended up with neither income nor free time.
I'm involuntarily destitute, not involuntarily celibate :-)
Re: A man was gifted his dream car by Kevin Mitnick, who he helped put in prison
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
Google says As Far As I Understand It. Seems a distinction without a difference from the traditional AFAIK As Far As I Know.
Sorry, I didn't quote the relavent section. My reply was not an attempt at translating the acronym, but replying to the context of being mad at using 'unfair tactics'
For what it's worth I'm not necessarily 'mad'. I was just explaining the context of the situation because it's interesting
Re: A man was gifted his dream car by Kevin Mitnick, who he helped put in prison
#169What I don't see mentioned here: It's entirely possible to be on opposite sides of the fence, hate the other party's actions, but still respect (or even like) them on a personal level. Imagine yourself in their shoes & dial it up to 11. [insert favorite movie scene here]
There is a part of Ghost in The Wires that is pretty close to that:
Ring me up, Mate.
Neill.
That made me smile. But what the hell? I figured: he already knew he had been hustled, so I had nothing to lose.
I called.
“Hey, Neill, what’s up?”
“Hey, mate.” No anger, no threats, no hostility. We were like two old friends.
We spent hours talking, and I shared all the intricate details of how I’d hacked him over the years. I decided I might as well tell him, since it wasn’t likely to work on him again.
We became telephone buddies, sometimes spending hours on the phone together over several days.
Re: A man was gifted his dream car by Kevin Mitnick, who he helped put in prison
#170Since we're talking about Kevin Mitnick on Hacker News, I have to mention: I recently re-read "Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier". It was published in 1991 and the first third of the book provides an early contemporary account of Kevin Mitnick. It's a great book that I first read in my high school library in the 90s and it completely captured my imagination. However, I had never connected the do…
If that tickled you, I also recommend "The New New Thing" by Michael M. Lewis.
Say less! Appreciate the recommendation and it's on its way!