Former Internet Hacker Gets new Lease On "line"

Kevin Mitnick, a famous former Internet hacker, will be able to log back onto the Internet on Tuesday of this week, as his online prohibition expires this week along with his probation. Mitnick served five years for hacking into computer networks and pirating software from companies including Sun Microsystems, Motorola, and Novell and has been unable to access the Internet for the past eight years. Mitnick will make his first log on to the Internet publicly on a broadcast of TechTV's program "The Screen Savers." Scheduled to appear with Mitnick on the show are the creator of Napster, Shawn Fanning, and one of the founders of Apple Computer, Steve Wozniak. Ironically, Kevin Mitnick will be working with technology companies this time, to help them prevent the type of hacking that he used to do. "What's going to be a struggle ... is convincing people in the security space that a lot of what was written about me is not true, and what is true, I'm sorry about," he told Reuters on Saturday. "I paid my debt to society and I'm trying to do a positive thing. I can't change the past. I'm looking forward to using email. My friends and family are tired of checking email for me and printing it out," he said. His girlfriend bought him his first PDA, a Blackberry, which he is looking forward to using. "I've lost out on a lot of time and education and research," he said.

Mitnick was labeled a "computer terrorist" and led the F.B.I. on a three-year manhunt with his corporate network hacking. In 2000 he pled guilty to wire and computing fraud and intercepting communications. Since his release, he has been supervised, with restrictions on his travel, employment and use of technology: he can use a cellphone and a computer without Internet capability.

Last year, he challenged the revocation of his ham radio license and got it reinstated. Amateur radio was his hobby in high school, but he expanded into phone phreaking - hacking the phone system. "That's where I got hooked on exploiting technology for the adventure, the thrill, the intrigue. I was figuring out how the phone company operated, the internal procedures." Mitnick began doing pranks with the telephone network and graduated to computer hacking, creating a program for fun at school that would steal passwords. He also began breaking into computers to learn how telephone networks operate and downloading proprietary software code to learn about it. He said he didn't think there would be serious consequences. "At the time, I didn't believe I was going to get caught. I looked at it as very benign and trivial and more of a pain in the butt. When they started to enact federal laws against computer hacking I continued in that mindset without realizing the seriousness of the activity. "

He listed the two laptops he used to hack into corporate networks on eBay recently, but said he withdrew the ads because he got too many bogus bids for them. He reportedly will re-list them and use the proceeds to help pay his attorney fees.