By KEITH STONE
c.1996 Los Angeles Daily News
LOS ANGELES - He is either a harmful cyberfelon who stole millions of
dollars in software and credit card numbers, or he is merely a minor
criminal whose evil image is the product of media hype and society's
ignorance.
Or perhaps Kevin Mitnick, the 32-year-old son of a Panorama City,
Calif., waitress, is a little of both.
Two new books have cast Mitnick in vastly different, albeit starring
roles in what amounts to a cautionary tale about the Internet and the
uncharted depths of digital crime.
And as part of a he-said, she-said subplot, the authors now are taking
shots at each other's journalistic competence and ethics, complete
with accusations of profit-driven bias.
On one side is The N.Y. Times reporter John Markoff and San Diego
computer security expert Tsutomu Shimomura, who co-wrote ``Takedown.''
On the other is Jonathan Littman, a Bay Area writer who authored ``The
Fugitive Game - On Line With Kevin Mitnick.''
Mitnick is now in federal custody in Los Angeles, where he is awaiting
a Jan. 29 court hearing. He was captured Feb. 15 in North Carolina
after Shimomura led the FBI on a nationwide manhunt, all witnessed
firsthand and exclusively by Markoff.
``This guy (Mitnick) is not an ax murderer, but he is costing dozens
of companies thousands to clean up after him,'' Markoff said during an
interview Wednesday. ``I don't think that in any of my writing I have
ever meant to demonize Kevin Mitnick.''
``Because the media turned it into a circus - does that justify what
Kevin did?'' he asked. ``He defined an era in which we are moving from
a physical world to this world of cyberspace.''
In ``Takedown,'' the story of the hunter, Shimomura, Mitnick is
accused of having illegally read people's electronic mail and stolen
credit card numbers and software that could be used to reap riches and
crack computers.
But Littman tells a different story of Mitnick - that is, the story of
the hunted, based in part on interviews with the hacker himself.
``Kevin Mitnick was turned into an icon, an icon of all that we should
fear. And the trouble is, I don't think he is a real danger,'' Littman
said in an interview. ``He never actually did the things that fit the
demon image that was created for him by Markoff and Shimomura.''
Mitnick has pleaded guilty in North Carolina to cellular telephone
fraud as part of a plea bargain that would throw out all but one of 23
charges. If the plea is accepted, Mitnick could face eight months in
prison.
Now in Los Angeles, Mitnick must answer to charges that he violated
supervised release, a condition of an earlier computer crime
conviction. Mitnick is accused of having broken into a telephone
company computer.
The state's Department of Motor Vehicles also issued a warrant for his
arrest, accusing him of having eavesdropped on federal agents in order
to illegally obtain driver's license information.
But if any additional charges are pending against Mitnick, the U.S.
Attorney's Office has not filed them or has kept them sealed.
Mitnick's attorney, John Yzurdiaga, said Mitnick does indeed face
other charges, but he could not discuss them because they are under
negotiation.
``It is a very, very tricky area of the law. Computer fraud is thought
as fraud, where you take something belonging to someone else and
profit from it,'' he said. ``Kevin has never profited by anything he
has done.''
Yzurdiaga readily concedes that Mitnick illegally cracked computers
and is skilled enough to have done much damage, but he points out that
he didn't do so and has not been charged with any such crimes.
Yet Mitnick's image persists.
``When you don't understand the computer world, you are susceptible to
being taken in by hyperbole of people like John Markoff and Shimomura.
Those guys are promoting a book,'' Yzurdiaga said.
David Schindler, the lead federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said
Mitnick's crimes are ``quite serious,'' regardless of whether he is
``the worst individual to travel the Internet or the second-worst or
the 10th worst.''
Schindler wouldn't say whether Mitnick faces charges beyond those made
public.
As to whether Mitnick's punishment will reflect his larger-than-life
reputation, Schindler said that sentencing guidelines may be lagging
behind the hacking crimes.
``That is not a decision we as prosecutors are asked to make,'' he
said. ``There are those who say any punishment is undeserving - and
obviously I disagree with those sentiments.''
Both ``Takedown'' and ``Fugitive Game'' touch on the role FBI
informant Justin Petersen had in catching Mitnick. Petersen is serving
41 months in prison for electronically rigging radio station contests
and transferring $150,000 from a bank.
``People who may have gone after Mitnick may actually be more
dangerous than Mitnick himself,'' Littman said.
According to Littman, Mitnick was drawn to Shimomura's computer
because it contained software that could be used to eavesdrop on
cellular telephone calls and Internet communications.
``You've got to start asking the question who is more dangerous?
Mitnick or Shimomura?'' Littman said.
Markoff counters that his stories are accurate and fair. Further, he
contends that Shimomura was developing sophisticated programs to help
secure the Internet, not compromise it. In fact, that very technology
was key in catching Mitnick.
``It raises very thorny problems about security and privacy, but I
don't think Tsutomu was wrong to develop the tools,'' Markoff said.
NYT-01-18-96 0941EST