THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502160398
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Kevin Mitnick, America's most wanted computer hacker, who evaded authorities in narrow escapes in Los Angeles and Seattle over the past two years, was captured Wednesday morning at his apartment in Raleigh.
Although authorities were unable to estimate how much damage he wreaked during his years on the run, the cellular telecommunications industry alleges that Mitnick, who used cellular phones to illegally access computers, cost it $1 million a day.
To nab the man who used the code name ``Condor,'' the government brought in an expert from a firm he is suspected of penetrating last Christmas.
Mitnick, who grew up in Los Angeles, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of violating the terms of his probation for a 1988 California computer hacking conviction, as well as new charges of computer fraud originating in North Carolina. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Schindler in Los Angeles said the government is looking into additional cases in San Diego, Seattle and Colorado.
The arrest apparently brings an end to the career of a man whose computer escapades began in high school, where he learned to break into the Los Angeles Unified School District's main computers. Eventually, he was able to break into a North American Air Defense Command computer in Colorado Springs, Colo., several years before the showing of the movie ``WarGames,'' about a hacker who nearly starts a war after entering a government computer.
Mitnick also manipulated the telephone system to pull pranks on friends and enemies, authorities said. He disconnected service to Hollywood stars, and a former probation officer said her phone service was terminated just as she was about to revoke his probation.
``He's an electronic terrorist,'' said a onetime friend who turned him in to authorities in 1988.
Mitnick served a year in prison and was placed on probation. He fled in late 1992, after the FBI showed up at the Calabasas, Calif., private investigations' firm where he was working. The agents were investigating break-ins to Pacific Bell computers.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles also has issued a $1 million warrant for him, accusing him of posing as a law enforcement officer to obtain sensitive DMV information, including driver's licenses and photographs. by CNB