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US Marshals On Trail Of Hacker
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1995 JAN 26 (NB) -- The US Marshals Service is on
the trail of a computer hacker who disappeared after being convicted of one
electronic crime and charged with another.

Authorities say they are trying to locate Kevin David Mitnick, 31, originally
from Sepulveda, California.

Deputy US Marshal Kathleen Cunningham told Newsbytes the Marshals Service has
had a probation violation warrant for Mitnick since November 1992, and almost
caught up with him in Seattle last October.

Cunningham said Mitnick is a ham radio enthusiast and is believed to use a
scanner to keep track of police in the area where he is hiding. "(Local
police) didn't use radio security so as soon as his address was mentioned he
was out of there. He just left everything."

Cunningham said authorities were able to get quite a bit of information about
Mitnick from the things he abandoned when he fled the Seattle location.

Mitnick is considered an expert at gaining control of computers to monitor or
use communications systems and knows how to manufacture false identities
using computers.

While still a teenager Mitnick was charged with "cracking" the North American
Air Defense Command computer and of using a modem to control telephone
switching centers in New York and California. A story last summer in The New
York Times reported Mitnick listened in on phone calls and reprogrammed the
home telephone of one individual so that each time the phone was picked up a
recording asked the phone user to deposit 25 cents.

Mitnick was charged with electronically stealing $1 million in secure
software from Digital Equipment Corp. causing the company to spend $160,000
to close up the gaps in its computer security. Upon conviction in that case
Mitnick was placed on supervisory probation in 1992. He disappeared later
that year after he was charged with illegally cracking into Pacific Bell's
computers. He is also reportedly a suspect in an incident in which someone
illegally accessed the computer at Britain's Loughborough University.

An information sheet about Mitnick says that, although he is not considered a
dangerous criminal, his activities are costing millions of dollars in the
public and private sectors. "Sensitive information illegally accessed by
Mitnick would cause continued financial hardship to these various
corporations if the information is ever disseminated to others."

The document warns authorities who might come in contact with Mitnick to be
very cautious and letting him get his hands on any personal information about
officers. "He possesses an amazing ability to disrupt one's personal life
through his computer knowledge, i.e., TRW's (credit ratings), phone service,
etc." warns the US Marshal's Service.

When contacted by Newsbytes, spokesperson Dave Fletcher at the Federal Bureau
of Investigation Press Office in Washington DC said the FBI does not hold a
warrant for Mitnick's arrest.

The fugitive warrant held by the US Marshal's Service describes Mitnick as
being a Caucasian, 5 feet 11 inches tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes,
brown hair, and wearing glasses.

(Jim Mallory/19950126/Press contact: US Marshal's Service, 202-307-9000)


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