Voting Station

Kevin Mitnick

Please vote to return to collections.

Computer Tech

The Resume

    (August 6, 1963-July 16, 2023)
    Born in Van Nuys, California
    First person charged with 'computer addiction'
    Broke into Pacific Bell, Dec, Motorola and Sun Microsystems
    Author of 'Art of Deception'

Why he might be annoying:

    He was charged with dozens of counts of alleged federal computer and wire fraud violations.
    He attempts to come off as a victim of government's need to make him an example.
    He intercepted private e-mail, copied confidential material and stole passwords.
    He copied proprietary software that was in the development stage.
    He altered data and corrupted operating systems.
    As a teenager, he joined a local Hollywood phone phreaking group. Phone phreaks are people who get into the phone system to make free calls, intercepts other peoples calls, or play pranks by altering other individuals' phone services.
    He and two other members of his gang broke into Pacific Bell's Computer System for Mainframe Operations (COSMOS) phone center in L.A. (May 1981).
    They stole COSMOS operating manuals, computer passwords and door lock combinations to nine Pacific Bell central offices.
    A girlfriend of one of the groups was upset with her boyfriend and turned them into the police and Mitnick was arrested.
    Being that he was a minor (17), he was sent for three months to the Los Angeles Juvenile Detention Center.
    He was arrested at USC when he used the computers to illegally access the ARPAnet (forerunner to the Internet) and gain access to the Pentagon (1983).
    His friend Lenny DiCicco worked for Digital Equipment and assisted him in an attempt to gain a copy of Digital's VMS minicomputer operating system. To be a ball breaker, he would call Digital anonymously and make complaints against DiCicco. DiCicco got into hot water from Kevin's joking and turned him in.
    He broke his probation from his conviction for computer and access device fraud (1989).
    He broke into Tsutomu Shimomura's computers in San Diego (Christmas 1994).
    Tsutomu Shimomura used his computer skills to locate Mitnick and assisted the FBI in his arrest.
    He told the FBI that he was Glenn Case, but his fingerprints identified him as Kevin Mitnick.
    The FBI arrested him in Raleigh, NC, after being a fugitive for several years (February 15, 1995).
    At one point, he was prohibited from 'using or possessing' all computer hardware equipment, software programs, and wireless communications equipment. Eventually, the court modified that restriction.
    The government set out to make Kevin an example, claiming $80 million in loses.
    He pleaded guilty (March 16, 1999).
    He was released from prison on January 21, 2003.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He is a computer genius.
    His nickname was Condor, honoring the movie 'Three Days of the Condor.'
    During the 80s, his license plate read 'X HACKER.'
    His half-brother died from an apparent heroin overdose.
    His parents were divorced.
    He claims he neither profited nor had malicious intent to damage property.
    He compares his hacking to a lock picker who is motivated by how the lock works but is not interested in what the lock is protecting.

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 22 Votes: 90.91% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 19 Votes: 63.16% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 19 Votes: 78.95% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 25 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 29 Votes: 72.41% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 76 Votes: 73.68% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 134 Votes: 70.15% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 228 Votes: 69.30% Annoying
    In 2004, Out of 333 Votes: 70.57% Annoying
    In 2003, Out of 508 Votes: 68.11% Annoying