Re: New Mitnick Book

[pcw@access.digex.net (Peter Wayner)]

>From the Littman book:

>   Shimomura likes his computer-controlled cellular phone, but
>   its use for tracking is limited. Its main purpose is to
>   lock on a call and eavesdrop. It is illegal to use it to
>   eavesdrop on calls. That's why Shimomura needed immunity
>   from prosecution when he demonstrated his Oki scanner
>   before Congress a couple of years ago. (p. 6)
>
Well, here's another minor error. At the hearing, Shimomura
just used a new, shrink wrapped cell phone. I think it was an AT&T
model, but my memory is faint on these details. I'm pretty sure it
wasn't an off the shelf Oki 900. Half the point was to show just
how easy it was. He didn't even bother to hook the
cell phone up to a laptop or palmtop. Just a few button pushes and
instant scanner. I tried to get him to tell me the right buttons afterwards,
but he was too busy and didn't answer. Sigh.

But aside from the brand name of the phone, Littman's sentence seems
accurate according to my recollection. The transcript should settle
all of this.

-Peter