Kevin David Mitnick

Kevin Mitnick was a very dear friend of mine, even though I played a part in putting him in federal prison for five years. I also helped get him out. It's a long story.

He passed away in July of 2023, and I have a ton of stories to tell about him.

Back in the 80s, Kevin was trying very hard to hack into Novell's network. I was a network administrator. Of course, we had no idea it was Kevin, but things were happening that made it fairly obvious we had a persistent threat. Phones ringing sequentially throughout the building (war dialing) and all sorts of other signs... we knew something was up.

Late one night at home, I got a phone call from a Novell employee named Gabe Nault. The "employee" wanted direct inbound dial access. Since I was responsible for the entire network's inbound connectivity, I knew this type of request was abnormal and against policy. I had a secure dial-back system for modems where you couldn't make a connection unless you were calling from a known phone number. Not only that, any access required approval by a manager, and this guy had a story about working on a top-secret project called Snowbird (real) and needing to make some emergency code changes, but he was on vacation in Vail at a hotel. He needed the coveted, policy-breaking, direct inbound modem access. Right. He even mentioned his vacation in Vail, which conveniently matched the greeting on Gabe Nault's voicemail. But it all felt wrong.

With a feeling of suspicion creeping in, I played it cool. I said, "Hey man, I'd love to help you out, but I need a favor. I can't do what you want from here at home anyway, so I'll have to do it in the morning as soon as I get to the office. But in case I forget, please leave me a voicemail." He agreed, and that was that.

When I got to work, the voicemail was there, and I immediately recorded it onto a cassette recorder for safekeeping. That recording became the primary evidence in Kevin's case. It took some time to actually catch Kevin, though. There's a whole other story about how Tsutomo Shimomura apprehended him in Raleigh, North Carolina.

When he was caught, I found out that my voicemail was the only real evidence, and I would be the primary witness in this high-profile trial. So, I worked very closely with the prosecutors, including Christopher Painter and Ken McGuire, for five years. Eventually, I became fed up with the delays and concerned that Kevin hadn't even been given a chance to argue for bail or access evidence. I questioned the long delays. I said, "There are people who believe you are violating his civil right to due process." The prosecutor's response sent chills down my spine. As a strong believer in the rule of law, I couldn't accept his words. Here was a top prosecutor at the DOJ basically telling me, "They say we are violating his rights, but we are sending a message to other would-be hackers."

Think about that.

Our right to due process is the foundation of a just society. This was unacceptable. If this was acceptable, it meant they could put anyone in prison just to intimidate people.

The conversation turned into a heated debate about my idealistic beliefs, and I ended up parting ways with the DOJ. I immediately tried to contact Kevin's lawyers, but since all they knew was that I was the star witness on the opposing side, they weren't interested in talking. I finally left a convincing voicemail, which resulted in a call with both of his lawyers and Kevin himself the very next day. Keep in mind, up until that phone call, Kevin and I were adversaries. Up until then, I had done everything possible to ensure a conviction.

Soon after, Kevin was released from prison with a plea deal. While he did bring a lot of this on himself, that doesn't justify the government acting like an oppressive regime.

A short time later, I got a sincere apology from Kevin. We decided to meet face-to-face. Of all places, it ended up being at RSA in San Francisco, and a reporter named Eleanor Abrue was there. She wrote an article about our meeting, and it went kind of viral. The only thing I disliked about the article was the misleading headline, "Mitnick Meets His Pigeon." If you know anything about the case, that's the exact opposite of what happened.

The truth is, I was the only person in the entire case who managed to trick him into leaving a crucial piece of evidence: the voice print from the voicemail. It ended up being the only direct evidence linking the 'crimes' to Kevin. Everything else was circumstantial. You can't cross-examine a keystroke.

Anyway, we hit it off when we met. Somehow, we became great friends in the process, and I have had a wonderful time watching him develop into a real man. I am truly sad he is gone as he was a big part of my life for the last quarter century.

I have to say, I loved this man like a brother and I will miss him more than I can say.  I have promised to make sure his soon-to-be-born son is trained in the ways of the Jedi, Amateur Radio, and maybe a bit about staying out of prison.  RIP Kev.

Shawn

Sept 2023