AT&T No Longer Wants Kevin Mitnick As A Customer - Tells him to take a hike after he complains of privacy violations...

AT&T No Longer Wants Kevin Mitnick As A Customer - Tells him to take a hike after he complains of privacy violations...
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AT&T No Longer Wants Kevin Mitnick As A Customer
Tells him to take a hike after he complains of privacy violations...
09:46AM Thursday Aug 20 2009 by Karl Bode
tags: business · privacy · Oddities · consumers

AT&T this week politely informed reformed hacker Kevin Mitnick that they could no longer serve him as a customer, at least according to Kevin Mitnick. The one time master of phreaking apparently hired a lawyer this week to complain to the provider that people were obtaining his personal information and posting it to public hacker forums. Mitnick supposedly ponied up more than $2,000 per month for mobile service due to high roaming charges, but the hacker says AT&T wasn't interested in keeping him as a customer.

"They can't seem to secure my account," says Mitnick. "And then instead of doing something about it, they try to kill the messenger and want to boot me off their network when all I want them to do is to secure my account so no one gets access to my phone records." "They have to take some responsibility," he says.

Mitnick had a similar run in with his hosting provider earlier this month, when Hostedhere.net decided they didn't want him around. After a number of breaches, the company "decided it wasn't cost-effective to keep me around," says Mitnick. "This is just one of the perils of being Kevin Mitnick," says Hostedhere's David Wykofka. "If you're Barack Obama, you don't get webhosting at GoDaddy."

As for AT&T, as you might expect they dispute Mitnick's allegation that he was "fired" as a customer. "We investigated Mr. Mitnick's claims and determined they were without any foundation," AT&T tells us. "We refused Mr. Mitnick's demands for money, but did offer to let him out of his contractual obligations so that he could find a carrier that he would be comfortable with," says the company.

There is irony somewhere here, yes?

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page: 1 · 2
odog @ 20th Aug 09:22AM:
I'm

Surprised he's allowed to have a phone.
reply

51200853 @ 20th Aug 09:27AM:
Re: I'm

Suprised he just didn't hack at&t system and set up free cell phone account for him self.
reply

Jmartz @ 20th Aug 09:27AM:
AT&T is Stupid

Well at least AT&T is revealing to us how they will let you off a contract early...
reply

Matt @ 20th Aug 09:31AM:
Re: AT&T is Stupid

said by Jmartz :

Well at least AT&T is revealing to us how they will let you off a contract early...

Yep. All you have to do is hack a high profile company, get caught because of your hubris, spend time in jail without formal charges while you lament to your friends on how they broke your jaw this week, get out, not use a computer for several years as a condition of your parole, and then go get AT&T service. Easy! :)
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amungus @ 20th Aug 09:33AM:
Seems like

Perhaps he ought to go w/Verizon and see if they really will "never stop working" for him :D

That and a $2000 bill for roaming? Really? Aren't there unlimited voice packages (probably not w/AT&T)? Dude's going to get some serious brain cancer if he uses the cell THAT much :hmm:

Sad that he even asked if they'd let him use an alias for the acct. and that they wouldn't even let him do that.
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anon @ 20th Aug 09:33AM:
WOW

The guy does wrong and now pulls the "I am the victim" roll. Sounds like he had no intention of letting AT&T know of this flaw in the system. Besides does AT&T not know where the problem is at this point?

I think there comes a point where we all know there is always going to be an exploit some where in every system. Choose to take the higher road and notify the need to knows; Then say goodbye. Or choose to use the exploit to your advantage, understand it is only a matter of time before you get caught and face justice.

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Mr Matt @ 20th Aug 09:36AM:
Disadvantage of a one way customer service agreement.

:( Unfortunately Kevin gets a procto from AT&T because their customer service agreement does not contain any language protecting the subscribers. AT&T simply has no sense of decency. All of the customer service agreement does is protect the service provider, let the subscriber be dammed.
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bakedbean @ 20th Aug 09:37AM:
Re: AT&T is Stupid

said by Jmartz :

Well at least AT&T is revealing to us how they will let you off a contract early...

No AT&T is revealing how insecure there network really is.
reply

manfmmd @ 20th Aug 09:43AM:
Karma

is a bitch..

EOM
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AstroBoy @ 20th Aug 09:45AM:
I wonder...

Did AT&T get hacked, or do they just sell user info?
reply

Subaru @ 20th Aug 09:50AM:
Re: Karma

End Of Message?
reply

djhexer @ 20th Aug 09:52AM:
I thought...

it says in the contract that if you use more than 50% of your minutes out of your home calling area that they could cancel you??
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rlocone @ 20th Aug 09:55AM:
Re: I'm

He was released on January 21, 2000. During his supervised release, which ended on January 21, 2003, he was initially restricted from using any communications technology other than a landline telephone. Mitnick fought this decision in court, eventually winning a ruling in his favor, allowing him to access the Internet.

As per the plea deal, Mitnick was also prohibited from profiting from films or books that are based on his criminal activity for a period of seven years.

Mitnick now runs Mitnick Security Consulting LLC, a computer security consultancy.
--
*** Never Forget 9/11 ***
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rahlquist @ 20th Aug 10:00AM:
grrrrrrrrrrr

Its time to make data insecurity a felony.
reply

tiger72 @ 20th Aug 10:06AM:
Re: Karma

that's what prison was for.
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Dodge @ 20th Aug 10:09AM:
Re: grrrrrrrrrrr

said by rahlquist :

Its time to make data insecurity a felony.

For whom? WHo is going to go to prison? The executives who would not approve proper equipment or developers who wrote the OS for failure to patch quickly enough? What about in case of open source software, arrest everyone involved in creating the software?
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TKJunkMail @ 20th Aug 10:13AM:
Re: WOW

It is kind of ironic that we get complaints and whining from a hacker that hackers are accessing his info. What goes around, comes around. Live with it Mitnick - you deserve whatever happens to you.
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DarnellP @ 20th Aug 10:17AM:
Re: Seems like

said by amungus :

That and a $2000 bill for roaming? Really? Aren't there unlimited voice packages (probably not w/AT&T)?

Perhaps he was roaming internationally? At any rate, I don't see what the big deal is. If at&t doesn't want his business, why doesn't he just take it somewhere else? I'm sure verizon, sprint and t-mobile wouldn't mind having its business.
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TSI Gabe @ 20th Aug 10:20AM:
Read the facts

Kevin Mitnick doesn't deserve half the stuff that happened to him.

On another note, I personally spoke to him a couple times, he's a very nice guy. Sure he did do some bad things, but it's the media that really fueled all the lies.
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anon @ 20th Aug 10:36AM:
Re: I thought...

Carriers usually only use that clause when talking about roaming on domestic towers (non-at&t owned in this case) where they don't charge the subscriber for that usage... minutes just comes out of the purchased plan minutes while at&t may need to pay the other carrier for the time on the other carrier's network...

When roaming internationally, at&t charge the subscriber for the usage so why should they care whether the usage in "in network" or not?

As for the folks who talked about Mitnik using a lot of minutes, or at&t not having "unlimited" plans... Carriers (worldwide) always charge for international roaming. Sometimes these rates are $3 (USD) per minute for voice calls... For example $1.99/minute in china, $2.49/min in S.Korea last time I checked, I forget where I saw $2.99, but I know there's places where it's that high... At that rate, it doesn't take too terribly long to rack up a big bill, and that doesn't even account for the ridiculously high rates they charge for data usage!
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mrkevin @ 20th Aug 10:30AM:
Re: Read the facts

said by TSI Gabe :

Kevin Mitnick doesn't deserve half the stuff that happened to him.

I agree, And seriously; banning someone from using technology...how the hell do you enforce that? did they have him escorted 24/7?

On another note: Why didn't he just have the phone turned on in his company name or alias in the first place.
Such a dumb move for such a smart guy.
--
An army of sheep led by a lion, will always defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
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The Folsom @ 20th Aug 10:42AM:
Re: AT&T is Stupid

said by Matt :

said by Jmartz :

Well at least AT&T is revealing to us how they will let you off a contract early...

I think I'd rather pay the ETF. :D
--
I started out with nothing. Today, I still have most of it.
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milnoc @ 20th Aug 10:43AM:
Re: Read the facts

I'll never forget his appearance on TechTV's The Screensavers the day he was finally allowed to access the Internet. One of the hosts asked him what he was planning to do, and he immediately answered that he always wanted to explore Internet banking.

The groan in the studio was very loud. :)
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The Folsom @ 20th Aug 10:44AM:
Re: Seems like

said by amungus :

Perhaps he ought to go w/Verizon and see if they really will "never stop working" for him :D

That and a $2000 bill for roaming? Really? Aren't there unlimited voice packages (probably not w/AT&T)? Dude's going to get some serious brain cancer if he uses the cell THAT much :hmm:

Sad that he even asked if they'd let him use an alias for the acct. and that they wouldn't even let him do that.

He should just get Boost for $50/ month... ;)
--
I started out with nothing. Today, I still have most of it.
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anon @ 20th Aug 11:16AM:
Re: Read the facts

Mitnick was abused by the system period. Nothing he did as a hacker did no major harm he just made a lot of people look VERY stupid.

as far as this is concerened I think its very boarderline. Cell phone service is quickly becoming a utlity. What do you think whould happen if a power company cut off service to a abortion clinic not for non payment but because the board was all pro-life. Now Kevein dose still have some options so it not that bad but pretty close.

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wifi4milez @ 20th Aug 10:51AM:
Re: WOW

said by TKJunkMail :

It is kind of ironic that we get complaints and whining from a hacker that hackers are accessing his info. What goes around, comes around. Live with it Mitnick - you deserve whatever happens to you.

Thats hilarious. I bet the real issue here is that when this "hack" happened, ATT refused to contract with Mitnicks own security company to fix the holes in their network.
--
Obama = Jimmy Carter part 2
"Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move"
-Sun Tzu-

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Time @ 20th Aug 10:55AM:
Wow...

I know exactly where he lives, too. That's a pretty old part of Vegas for a guy that can afford $2000 in roaming charges.

Either way, I don't see what the big deal is. AT&T cuts customers off all of the time. They're also willing to help out in many cases, as I've explained before that I had my number ported to Sprint, and AT&T ported it back while waiving the ETF. They do help people, you just have to be one of their "high value" customers that spends over the magic $99 per month.
--
"If it can't be done with brains, it can't be done with hours" - Clarence "Kelly" Johnson
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cabana @ 20th Aug 11:20AM:
Re: Wow...

Quote:

" "There are so many ways into these networks," he said. "They have to take some responsibility, not just silence the people that are filing complaints."

An AT&T spokeswoman didn't immediately have a comment. She said she would have to check whether customer passwords are encrypted when stored on AT&T servers."

:uhh:
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NOVA_Guy @ 20th Aug 11:23AM:
Re: WOW

said by a221219 :

The guy does wrong and now pulls the "I am the victim" roll. Sounds like he had no intention of letting AT&T know of this flaw in the system.

Why should he? He is just their customer, and as such has no obligation to. If it were me, I wouldn't let AT&T know of the flaw either... at least not until some sort of contract was in hand where they were offering up cash to me for that info.

said by a221219 :

I think there comes a point where we all know there is always going to be an exploit some where in every system. Choose to take the higher road and notify the need to knows; Then say goodbye.

Again, there's no obligation to. Mitnick is under no requirement to help AT&T shore up their apparently ineffective security.

Now, if I were in Mitnick's shoes, I'd probably have offered consulting services to AT&T for the sum of hundreds of thousands of dollars to find their vulnerabilities and let them know how to fix them. Why help for free when there's a profit to be made?
--
Trusting the Democrats to fix our economy and give us health care is like trusting the fox with keys to the henhouse, a brand new gas stove, and a pantry full of goodies for side dishes. In the end, all will be dead and nothing but lies will be told.
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aztecnology @ 20th Aug 11:23AM:
Re: Seems like

He's probably an iPhone user...
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cableties @ 20th Aug 11:34AM:
IRONY

Oh the irony of it all...

" At age 17, Mitnick hacked into the computer system of Pacific Bell and altered phone bills..."
"In 1988, Mitnick was charged with two new crimes: causing $4 million in damage to a Digital Equipment Corporation computer while stealing a secret computer security system and accessing the MCI network to make free long-distance phone calls."
"...While investigating the Pacific Bell break-in, the FBI found evidence that Mitnick had hacked into the California driver's license records to try to set up a false identity for himself and had even posed as a police officer to try to get driver's license information."

One benefit (oddly enough) of his abuse of computers and criminal acts to systems were the creation of ethics courses for systems engineers. :uhh:
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Eat Me @ 20th Aug 12:05PM:
Ham radio

Well thankfully, Kevin Mitnick is also N6NHG so he could always go back to using the autopatch on the local repeater?
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bender @ 20th Aug 12:06PM:
Re: Seems like

oh. one of those people. gah
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bender @ 20th Aug 12:08PM:
Re: I wonder...

they do both
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chronoss2009 @ 20th Aug 12:16PM:
wooo is me the rlogin exploit OH what skill

jesss
this guys such a twit
never thinks a no one but his self.
CHRoNoSS
United Hackers Association

P.S. he gave up the rights to a term "hacker" when he sucked ass and used the term 'security' as many chicken shits do.
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Telco_Tech @ 20th Aug 12:25PM:
Re: grrrrrrrrrrr

said by Dodge :

For whom? WHo is going to go to prison? The executives who would not approve proper equipment or developers who wrote the OS for failure to patch quickly enough? What about in case of open source software, arrest everyone involved in creating the software?

A good point, but how about mandatory random security audits from a trusted outside source, government run or otherwise? Failure to pass the security audit with flying colors could result in hefty fines (and by hefty, I mean hefty enough for the company to actually notice instead of just ignoring the problem and writing a check).

Of course, AT&T is one big personal information broker anyway, so I don't see much point in trying to audit them.

- Tate

--
Down with AT&T!
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Telco_Tech @ 20th Aug 12:30PM:
Re: Read the facts

said by Glich :

Mitnick was abused by the system period. Nothing he did as a hacker did no major harm he just made a lot of people look VERY stupid...

...What do you think whould happen if a power company cut off service to a abortion clinic not for non payment but because the board was all pro-life. Now Kevein dose still have some options so it not that bad but pretty close.

You started off great and then you lost me. Your analogy makes very little sense.

- Tate

--
Down with AT&T!
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squirrel83 @ 20th Aug 12:59PM:
crazy

crazy --- I am surprised he was allowed to have a phone as well.
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patcat88 @ 20th Aug 01:01PM:
Re: Seems like

And dialup internet speeds?
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Pv8man @ 20th Aug 01:02PM:
Re: Read the facts

Ya same here, your 1st two sentences were great.

But then the rest does not make much sense...to me at lease
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patcat88 @ 20th Aug 01:02PM:
Re: Disadvantage of a one way customer service agreement.

lawsuit! lawsuit! lawsuit! lawsuit!
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patcat88 @ 20th Aug 01:03PM:
Re: I wonder...

Get SSN, get DOB, you got account access through pretexting :-)
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patcat88 @ 20th Aug 01:04PM:
Re: grrrrrrrrrrr

And what god forsaken focus group is going to design the security audit protocol, and then the suits and "industry groups" gut the guidelines with a stroke of their corporate lobbiest and thinktank pens?
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Pirate515 @ 20th Aug 01:08PM:
Re: Seems like

said by aztecnology :

He's probably an iPhone user...

If so, I wonder if his is jailbroken...
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patcat88 @ 20th Aug 01:08PM:
Re: crazy

He can sing red box tones into a phone for free calls.
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Pv8man @ 20th Aug 01:32PM:
Re: wooo is me the rlogin exploit OH what skill

well, idk about that

The use of the word "Security" I guess would be the more proper respected way of putting it.

Anytime someone hears the word "hacker"...they think of some news report talking about bad stuff that hackers did.

But no mention of any of the good things that some hackers do.
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AVonGauss @ 20th Aug 02:28PM:
Ugh...

Not a big fan of AT&T Wireless, but most of this just stinks of a publicity stunt. I am sure he gets unwanted "attention", but I seriously doubt we're hearing all of the story.

As for the $2000 a month phone bill? Seriously? I hope that includes a lot of different cell phone accounts and some 3G wireless cards, otherwise I would be ashamed to admit publicly that I am paying that much for wireless service per month - even with international travel. I know this is a nitpick, but strangely $2000 per month for a year does not equal 20,000 as stated by the referenced article. Considering the accusations, I would think accurate facts would be useful.
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major marco @ 20th Aug 02:53PM:
Re: WOW

said by wifi4milez :

I bet the real issue here is that when this "hack" happened, ATT refused to contract with Mitnicks own security company to fix the holes in their network.

That was my guess as well. And rather than do the right thing and provide a modicum of subscriber security, the Deathstar simply decided to shoot the messenger. This is SOP for the company as it was twenty years ago before the world had Kevin Mitnick to demonstrate just how lax companies really are when it comes to security.
--
The Toll

Tracking Lord Stanley

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WhatNow @ 20th Aug 02:56PM:
Re: Ugh...

If I read correctly he hit the company up for money first so they asked him to leave. Who knows he may have given the info out and then cried victim.
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rahlquist @ 20th Aug 03:00PM:
Re: grrrrrrrrrrr

Whomever is in charge of the policy that allows the social engineering that just about anyone can perform to get your personal info from a phone company. To hell with the sill 6 figure fines that a phone company could give a flip about, threaten executive management with Jail and they will get it fixed.

The part that makes no sense is giving this information out costs the phone co money taking employee resources and time. Unless of course they are getting paid for the info....
--
Fed Up With Stupidity?

Patentlystupid.com
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notwrth10 @ 20th Aug 03:12PM:
I am not sure who to feel sorry for?

Kevin Mitnick or AT&T?

Truthfully, if you think AT&T could protect Mitnick's account from being hacked all the time that is a pipe dream at best.

AT&T finally realized there is no way to protect a criminal!

While I think it's cheap for at&t to take this route I doubt if other providers wouldn't have the same problems. Look at the bright side kevin, least you won't have to worry about being an AT&T customer anymore!

That should be a "reward" in itself!
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Chiyo @ 20th Aug 03:17PM:
Re: WOW

Did you even read a word of the article?
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cdru @ 20th Aug 03:30PM:
Re: WOW

Yes it is ironic and in a karma sense he does deserve what happens to him. In reality though it shouldn't happen to anyone, whether they are a celebrity, criminal, or John Q. Public.
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smueller @ 20th Aug 03:31PM:
Re: AT&T is Stupid

said by bakedbean :

said by Jmartz :

Well at least AT&T is revealing to us how they will let you off a contract early...

No AT&T is revealing how insecure there network really is.

You have no idea... just how many holes at&t has, in their network.
bringing at&t to it's knees, wouldn't be difficult. Just attack the right network elements, and the whole house of cards, comes crashing down.
NOT that I'd advocate doing anything of the sort. That's how you'd land your hiney in Federal, pound you in the arse, Prison! It's bad, m'kay ...

However ... if half of the landline customers, picked up thier phone at the exact same time, to make a call... they couldn't, nor could anyone else, on the network.
Wireless, is even worse! It depends on the area, but if half a million, started watching streaming video, the network would shudder, and all the stupid middle managers running the show, wouldn't know what to do. They'd have a heck of a time, putting Humpty Dumpty, back together again!

Back in 1998, some clown in California, realized ALL user account data, was held in NIS+, and the NIS+ servers, weren't protected, AT ALL! He setup his machine, as a nis+ client, downloaded the tables ... and got userids/passwords for all customers on the network. Oops!
Nowdays, everything is held in LDAP, and the LDAP servers, are somewhat protected, BUT (and I'm talking a really BIG butt here) it wouldn't take too much effort, to find some lone server, out on at&t's network, that hasn't been maintained for years... and hack it. Launch the rest of your attacks from there.

Sadly, the Usenet servers were shutdown (or were they?)... those machines hadn't been so much as rebooted (or patched) in over 1000 days, last time I knew anything.

at&t is full of ass clowns! Ok... there are a few (very few!) decent folks, in the bowels of Ma' Bell (should be inbred uncle, twice removed bell)
with exception to a small handful of services, it call all be taken down, with ease!
Nice infrastucture, the government depends on huh??

Yes! I'm a very, very disgruntled former at&t employee.
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smueller @ 20th Aug 04:51PM:
Re: crazy

said by patcat88 :

He can sing red box tones into a phone for free calls.

Not anymore! That tomfoolery hasn't worked since 2003, when Sprint finally pulled thier last old ass switch out, and replaced it with something digital.
About all the fun you can have anymore, is running an LED panel, off power, from the phone company.

Pick a color... all the old phreaker boxes, don't work anymore.

Now, there is some fun to be had, if you're on a VoIP system.
You can modify callerid, to say just about anything you want.
It's kinda fun, calling your boss, and having the callerID say it's thier wife and/or Home Phone :o

Jack MeHoffe
212-883-2251

Oliver ClothesOffe
469-867-5309

It's not as fun as posting your bosses e-mail address, everywhere, like it was on the bathroom wall of a truck stop... but it's still very entertaining.

Thanks to the era of unlimited LD on landlines... one actually CAN call 867-5309 in every area code, and ask for Jenny. Well, when you've had WAY too much to drink ... Just stay away from Jacksonville, Florida. The old lady who has that number, isn't amused!
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Cabal @ 20th Aug 04:02PM:
Re: I'm

FYI- He's one of the good guys.
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hottboiinnc @ 20th Aug 07:05PM:
Re: AT&T is Stupid

landline can but brought down.

Have you ever heard of "all circuits are busy"? it happens a lot.
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manfmmd @ 20th Aug 07:15PM:
Re: Karma

Prison was for punishment for breaking the law, karma on the other hand is, for lack of a better analogy... "What goes around, comes around."
--
"The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
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tmc8080 @ 20th Aug 07:48PM:
Re: AT&T is Stupid

said by Matt :

said by Jmartz :

Well at least AT&T is revealing to us how they will let you off a contract early...

Still, there must be some hard feelings at AT&T.. why after all that time wouldn't they want him as a $$ PAYING $$ customer? That's practically inviting the SPYS that run the back offices of AT&T to listen in on whatever telecom he uses.. How else can they recruit/train the next generation of SPYS?

Besides, these days.. it's less about social engineering and more about industrial espionage to gain access to privileged materials/trade secrets about TODAY's modern networks.. more balance towards who you know rather than what you know (specifically as an outsider looking in). I also doubt that as the old guard gets older they are looking to do any serious damage to their former nemesis... they're looking to put that behind them. Most of the technology exploited back then is vastly out of date today, and there is little challenge and/or need to steal telecom services these days aside from occasional WIFI.. and today that's easier than child's play.

It's not like Kirk going back to steal the Enterprise to go on one last hurrah mission, now.. is it? I'm sure Verizon would be happy to take his money.
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stinger @ 20th Aug 09:39PM:
Re: I'm

said by odog :

Surprised he's allowed to have a phone.

I've always believed that we should make lemonade from life's lemons.

That said...

Kevin, the White House is still looking for a Cyber-Security Czar.

Now I'd buy that for a dollar! :)
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PGHammer @ 20th Aug 10:19PM:
Which side of AT&T gave Mitnick the boot?

Was it the Mobility side or the landline side?

Either way, regardless of *which* side, once you pay your debt to society, that SHOULD be THAT.

He did the crime, and then did the time.

Or are you implying that you NEVER *do the time* until you're planted in the ground?

If that's the case, then stand up for Truth in Sentencing, and *abolish* both parole AND probation (industrial-strength vbersion of Project EXILE or three-strikes) and then *fully fund* the resultant extrra prisons we will need.

Otherwise, the judicial system (especially the criminal-justice side) will remain the joke that it is seen as (by the majority of the inmates, and especially the repeat offenders).
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Chaldo @ 21st Aug 12:09AM:
digitalgangster

that's a hard ass forum, i know a lot of guys on there...
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Selenia @ 21st Aug 03:00AM:
Re: wooo is me the rlogin exploit OH what skill

said by Pv8man :

well, idk about that

The use of the word "Security" I guess would be the more proper respected way of putting it.

Anytime someone hears the word "hacker"...they think of some news report talking about bad stuff that hackers did.

But no mention of any of the good things that some hackers do.

Changing terms is just chicken shit when one should really be changing the perception of the general idiot public. Many good things could happen if that were so, including the downfall of the commercial software racket full of exploits that holds peoples' money captive. You can thank hackers for defining what security is. why change their names? There are plenty of other names for those who do bad, like phisher, scammer, malware distributer, etc. You don't even need hacking for some of these activities, just some ways people do it involve some of it. btw, I know CHRoNoSS under another of my screen names and I can vouch that he is one of the good guys.
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dwykofka @ 21st Aug 09:27AM:
out of context

I hate reporters...
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JohnQPublic @ 21st Aug 12:41PM:
Re: WOW

Breaks your heart, doesn't it?! Cry us a river, Kevin.
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anon @ 21st Aug 02:00PM:
msg deleted

deleted by a moderator
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anon @ 21st Aug 02:04PM:
msg deleted

deleted by a moderator
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anon @ 21st Aug 02:07PM:
msg deleted

deleted by a moderator
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anon @ 21st Aug 02:10PM:
MITNICK is the BEST!

Hey Kevin, Don't let them get you down! They are still afraid of your abilities and always will be. Loooooooosers!
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bac522 @ 21st Aug 02:24PM:
Re: Ugh...

Must be nice to be a former scumbag hacker who can now afford a $2000 month cell phone bill. Companies that use his services are idiots...sorry I don't buy this "Yesterday I was a hacker, today I can secure you network" crap and companies that do, don't come crying here when you're hacked!

Last thing I would want on my network is a former hacker securing it...wonder how many "just in case" backdoors he installs on his customer networks?!?!?!
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furlonium @ 21st Aug 04:54PM:
Re: Ugh...

said by bac522 :

Must be nice to be a former scumbag hacker who can now afford a $2000 month cell phone bill. Companies that use his services are idiots...sorry I don't buy this "Yesterday I was a hacker, today I can secure you network" crap and companies that do, don't come crying here when you're hacked!

Last thing I would want on my network is a former hacker securing it...wonder how many "just in case" backdoors he installs on his customer networks?!?!?!

Franky did it!

"Frank William Abagnale, Jr. (born April 27, 1948) is an American security consultant and former check confidence trickster, forger and impostor. He became notorious in the 1960s for passing bad checks worth about $2.5 million in 26 countries over the course of five years. During this time, he used at least eight aliases to cash bad checks.

Abagnale's life story provided the inspiration for the feature film Catch Me If You Can, based on his ghostwritten autobiography of the same name. He is currently a consultant and lecturer at the academy and field offices for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He also runs Abagnale & Associates, a financial fraud consultancy company."
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»www.myspace.com/intranet

El perro, el perro es mi corazon. El gato, el gato, el gato no es bueno. Cilantro es cantante, Cilantro es muy famoso. Cilantro es el hombre con el queso del Diablo!
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anon @ 21st Aug 07:55PM:
ranting a little much?

many of the old schoolers went legit.. there isn't a good reason to risk having legal problems in older years-- unless you need free shelter, food, and healthcare..

pacbell, is majoirty AT&T, the leftovers of the west.. Verizon's..

let it be known that AT&T is still stuck in a technology bermuda triangle and has elements of orwell's 1984 in it's corporate culture. AT&T schelacked tankers of lipstick for what now has more fat from Bell South's underbelly. to what end does AT&T have a joined at the spine love affair with government clandestine agencies? this was never fully revealed.. and may never be... AT&T is a ripe target, Verizon.. not so much.. they learned the hard way about security & got schooled in the nature of telecom from the cable companies. Those companies outside the northeast got lazy & complacent and poor security is but one symptom of much bigger problems.

it's nearly impossible for any one person, forum or public sentiment to be a catalyst that helps remake at&t into a somewhat repected and feared global telecom company (for more of the RIGHT reasons than WRONG ones), but if anyone is willing to try It'd be K.M.
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dustman81 @ 22nd Aug 07:53PM:
Re: Ugh...

To build a good defense, you need to know how the offense operates. Who better to know how hackers (Which really is a misnomer. "Hackers" refer to programmers, "crackers" are those who break into computer systems) think and operate than a former hacker.

Mitnick's best trick wasn't technology based at all. He was a master at social engineering.
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dot @ 23rd Aug 05:41PM:
who is watching who?

Perhaps AT&T got tired of being in the middle of who Kevin is watching and who is watching Kevin. Someone must be watching him…
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