Free Essays on Computer Hacking

The textbook, Management of Information Technology, defines the information super highway as, â€Å"An installed intelligent workstation for office and professional workers in most organizations to connect via the local area network (LAN) or to other nets or to large computer data stores through servers that function as message-switching and message processing systems.† (Frenzel, 1999, p.14). The books continues and identifies a subject by the name of Kevin Mitnick who was arrested on February 15, 1995, for sleuthing on the information highway. This paper will portray the events leading up to the arrest of Kevin Mitnick. Mitnick, 31, described by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, (FBI), as the â€Å"Nations Most Wanted Computer Hacker†, was arrested in his home on February 15, 1995. Mitnick, as described by Forbes Magazine is, â€Å"A recreational hacker with a compulsive-obsessive relationship to information. He hoarded information, never sold it, and wouldnâ€⠄¢t even share it with his friends.†(published in 1999). What lead up to the arrest and incarceration of Mitnick is described below. Kevin David Mitnick was cyberspace's most wanted hacker. Mitnick could launch missiles or cripple the world's financial markets with a single phone call - or so went the myth. The FBI, phone companies, bounty hunters, even fellow hackers pursued him over the Internet and through cellular airways. Tsutomo Shimomura, a computational physicist was on vacation when he discovered that someone infiltrated the computers near San Diego, California, and stole several intelligence files. Shimomura became even more involved with the case when the infiltrator tapped into Shimomura’s voice mail system and left him a computer-altered message. Companies. â€Å"The attack clearly infuriated the wrong person.† (Frenzel, 199, p.441). Throughout the month of January 1995 and into February 1995, Shimomura and his team of â€Å"computer sleuths† monitored the hackers eve... Free Essays on Computer Hacking Free Essays on Computer Hacking The textbook, Management of Information Technology, defines the information super highway as, â€Å"An installed intelligent workstation for office and professional workers in most organizations to connect via the local area network (LAN) or to other nets or to large computer data stores through servers that function as message-switching and message processing systems.† (Frenzel, 1999, p.14). The books continues and identifies a subject by the name of Kevin Mitnick who was arrested on February 15, 1995, for sleuthing on the information highway. This paper will portray the events leading up to the arrest of Kevin Mitnick. Mitnick, 31, described by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, (FBI), as the â€Å"Nations Most Wanted Computer Hacker†, was arrested in his home on February 15, 1995. Mitnick, as described by Forbes Magazine is, â€Å"A recreational hacker with a compulsive-obsessive relationship to information. He hoarded information, never sold it, and wouldnâ€⠄¢t even share it with his friends.†(published in 1999). What lead up to the arrest and incarceration of Mitnick is described below. Kevin David Mitnick was cyberspace's most wanted hacker. Mitnick could launch missiles or cripple the world's financial markets with a single phone call - or so went the myth. The FBI, phone companies, bounty hunters, even fellow hackers pursued him over the Internet and through cellular airways. Tsutomo Shimomura, a computational physicist was on vacation when he discovered that someone infiltrated the computers near San Diego, California, and stole several intelligence files. Shimomura became even more involved with the case when the infiltrator tapped into Shimomura’s voice mail system and left him a computer-altered message. Companies. â€Å"The attack clearly infuriated the wrong person.† (Frenzel, 199, p.441). Throughout the month of January 1995 and into February 1995, Shimomura and his team of â€Å"computer sleuths† monitored the hackers eve... Free Essays on Computer Hacking Computer hacking is a very major crime in today’s world. It takes a large amount of intelligence and dedication to be a hacker. Not just anyone can store thousands of commands and codes in their head. Because these hackers are so intelligent it makes them even more dangerous. Dangerous to the point where if they wanted to they could probably wipe you off the face of the earth. Maybe not literally, but defiantly in the computers. The reason hackers are such a concern today more than ever, is that now a days everything is run by computers. EVERYTHING!! Kevin Mitnick, a hacker who has yet to have a harsh punishment when caught, can somehow lower his punishment for his hacking crimes down to a couple months probation. When Kevin was seventeen, he was caught for breaking into a phone center in Los Angeles. He was tried and sentenced to three months stay in a juvenile detention center and one year probation. Kevin is a very intelligent man. He could use his computer skills in a good way by stopping other hackers, but he didn't, so he faced the law many times. In all those times, he never spent more than a year in prison (Shimomura 1). Kevin was also a â€Å"Phreak†; a phone freak. He studied the phone system. He soon knew how to make free phone calls from payphones and how to crash a system. Kevin Mitnick has yet to be harshly punished for these crimes, which are very numerous (Shimomura 1). Another major player in the hacking industry is an unidentified man, identified by his pseudonym, or nickname, Deth Vegetable. His group of hackers, Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc), is one of the oldest hacker organizations still in effect today. He is the leader and founder of (Cult of the Dead Cow). Cult of the Dead Cow is a leading group in the hacking industry; another leader that has fun with what they do. (Sullivan 1). They are a notorious group of hackers who have a couple problems; one of which is drugs. At a convention that the cDc holds fo...