Re: New Mitnick Book

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

Responding to msg by bdavis@thepoint.net (Brian Davis) on Fri, 
5 Jan  3:4  PM


   Here's Littman on what the Feds knew about Markoff at
   Raleigh (Orsak and Murphy are with Sprint Cellular; Kent
   Walker was US Attorney in San Francisco):


   Monday afternoon, Special Agent LeVord Burns sits by the
   coffee pot and vending machine at the Sprint switch and
   debates the legal issues with Shimomura. "Tsutomu wanted us
   to kick his door down," recalls Orsak, who along with
   Murphy, listened in. "Burns was talking about what warrants
   had been issued, what the FBI was going to do."

   Burns impresses Orsak. A well-built, bespectacled black man
   in a suit and tie, Burns looks like the kind of FBI agent
   that doesn't miss details. As Burns recounts Mitnick's
   background, Orsak is surprised by what the agent says about
   Mitnick. "Burns said there were a lot of guys that as far
   as national security went were a lot more dangerous than
   Mitnick -- that a lot of professional hackers are a lot
   more dangerous." To Orsak, cyberspace's Most Wanted Hacker
   doesn't sound all that threatening. "One of the more
   interesting things, I thought, was the FBI goes, 'As far as
   hackers go,' Mitnick was 'benign.' They didn't have
   evidence he was in it for the money."

   A little later, John Markoff and Shimomura's girlfriend,
   Julia Menapace, who just flew in, arrive at the switch.
   Orsak and Murphy invite Shimomura's team, Burns, and two
   other FBI agents from Quantico, Virginia, out to Ragazzi's,
   a casual Italian restaurant nearby. Orsak spreads out a
   Raleigh street plan on the checkered tablecloth and
   pinpoints Mitnick's location.

   "LeVord was telling us what his involvement was for the
   FBI," recalls Murphy. "It was light banter. LeVord assumed
   like we all did, that Markoff was just another guy out of
   California. Just another egghead. One of Tsutomu's."

   Markoff gets everyone's ear when he mentions Mitnick
   inspired the hit movie WarGames. "Markoff was filling us in
   on Mitnick's typical behavior, the different people Mitnick
   had run-ins with," recalls Murphy. "A guy in England, a guy
   in Princeton, one at Digital." Then, Markoff runs through
   some of Mitnick's aliases. One of the phony names rings a
   bell with Murphy. After dinner, the whole crew heads back
   to the switch, and just as Murphy suspected, he finds a
   memo describing a recent attempt by someone using the alias
   to social engineer a new bunch of MINs.

   Meanwhile, the FBI is bumping up against a technical
   problem. The agents had planned to install the FBI's own
   bulky scanning equipment in a rental van, but they can't
   find one. Murphy suggests using his co-worker Fred's
   minivan. Burns gives the idea the green light, and Orsak
   helps the agents set up and calibrate their equipment in
   Fred's van.

   Around midnight, Fred chauffeurs the two agents to circle
   the cell site to calibrate their scanning equipment. Fred
   and the FBI agents get to talking.

   "He [Fred] let the cat out of the bag," confides Murphy.
   "We didn't tell him not to say anything. We weren't trying
   to hide it, but we were also not trying to convey it. He
   told them Markoff wrote a book on this guy."

   The boys from Quantico aren't happy.

   "They freaked," recalls Murphy. "They thought Markoff would
   tip the guy [Mitnick] so he could write another book."

   One of the Quantico agents phones the Sprint switch to
   confirm Markoff's identity. "Me, Markoff, Tsutomu, and
   Julia were at the switch," remembers Murphy. "One of the
   Quantico guys was on the phone. He wanted to talk to
   Tsutomu."

   Murphy passes the phone to Shimomura.

   "He [Shimomura] wasn't about to lie," says Murphy of the
   tense moment. "He [Shimomura] was trying to evade a little
   bit. He said that Kent Walker knew about Markoff being
   there, which of course Walker did."

   Murphy, Markoff, and Menapace listen to Shimomura.

   "Kent knows about it," insists Shimomura to the agent from
   Quantico. "He's cleared through Kent."

   But Kent Walker later denied ever giving Shimomura such
   approval or knowing John Markoff was in Raleigh. Shimomura
   later disputed Murphy's account and said he "never told
   anyone from law enforcement that anyone had authorized
   Markoff's presence in Raleigh."

   (pp. 357-58)