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ZDNet Talks to Kevin Mitnick

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the people-you-wish-were-policy-makers dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Notorious hacker turned security consultant Kevin Mitnick touches on a myriad of issues ranging from law enforcement to Microsoft in a short interview with ZDNet. My favorite part is when he's asked if in his mind, Microsoft is a leader and the rest are still catching up. Mitnick answers: 'I am waiting for a case where a software maker gets sued for releasing buggy code, but they will probably cover their ass with the long license agreements that nobody ever reads.'"

19 comments

  1. hmmm, no posts. by Niznaika · · Score: 0

    What is this, dupe boycott ?

    1. Re:hmmm, no posts. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, now STFU

  2. The good ole days... by pasamio · · Score: 1

    Do you believe that the state of software security is better today than five or 10 years ago? Mitnick: No, though it depends on what software you are talking about and what the company has done. I can't make one statement for the whole industry. Take Microsoft, for example. I think their current code base is more secure than Windows NT was.
    I remember those days where all of these vulnerabilities were being found and Microsoft did squat...until people started attacking their own servers. Then hotfixes were invented, something that has stayed with Windows ever since - something that every other server environment seems to be absent of, I wonder why?

    --
    I always wondered where this setting was...
  3. hmm. by masterpenguin · · Score: 1
    Do you think if you were doing today what you did 10 years ago, would you be caught sooner? Mitnick: If I knew what I know now and I could use what I know now back then, no. But if they had the technology that exists today, and I was doing the exact thing I was doing, yes. Law enforcement's capabilities for tracking communications are much greater than years ago.
    Well that's fairly obvious since the FBI does recruit crackers/hackers that they catch. Now they've got a tool box filled with talented converts. Furthermore my understanding is that 10 years ago the FBI weren't taking computer fraud as seriously because it wasn't so prevelent nor so damaging. Therefore they're now bringing more force to bear.
  4. Who cares what Kevin thinks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Am I alone in the opinion that Kevin Mitnick's opinion is worth less than a squirt of urine? The guy's a scumbag, stole from others, got caught, went to jail, and now he's... some kind of hero? Why don't you try and idolize someone deserving instead?

    1. Re:Who cares what Kevin thinks? by lpcustom · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I wouldn't call him a scumbag. I also really don't care what his opinion is on sercurity is either. He's capitalizing on his name. In all honesty though, he deserves to be able to do that. He was used to set a precedent. That's all. They were tough on him because they had to be to get their point across. Somehow, that's made him look like a major player in the "hacker" society.
      One key point about Kevin's story though...He got caught. People seems to ignore the fact that there were plenty of "hackers" at that time and Kevin is the one that was caught. So how does that make him the best or even close to the best? That's like being in a marathon, walking behind everyone, and since you're the one the media can keep up with they are asking you how you stay so fit and healthy. Makes very little sense.

      --
      Beer! It's what's for breakfast!
    2. Re:Who cares what Kevin thinks? by lpcustom · · Score: 1

      How is that flaimbait?....That's a valid opinion and really just stating the facts.

      --
      Beer! It's what's for breakfast!
  5. no software is bug free by Jump · · Score: 1

    Well, if one can get sued for releasing a buggy code, everone programming for profit is
    going to be jailed. Seriously, software is sold 'as is', or you must pay a million for a
    simple text editor.

    1. Re:no software is bug free by TheLink · · Score: 1

      uh, if you can get sued for releasing buggy code, then how is making free software going to cover your costs?

      If people get used to the idea of suing if the software has bugs, you'll still get sued, even if your software is free.

      --
    2. Re:no software is bug free by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 2, Informative



      You are confusing software that has bugs in it with buggy code. Mitnick is referring to gross negligence . In fact, if you RTFA you will find this quote:

      "Mitnick: Software is always going to have bugs because there are human beings behind it doing the development."

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  6. Stories of a guy who got busted by NoSuchGuy · · Score: 2

    Why are there stories about a person, who's biggest fame is being arrested for computer crime?

    --
    Grundgesetz * 23. Mai 1949 - 30. November 2007 - http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/
    1. Re:Stories of a guy who got busted by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 1

      The biggest "scores" of any crime are famous (infamous). Serial killers, terrorists, and yes -- haxxors. Just wait, in a few years you'll see Kevin Mitnick dastardly exploits in a half-hour episode on the History channel.

  7. Lawsuits have already happened... by Short+Circuit · · Score: 1

    I am waiting for a case where a software maker gets sued for releasing buggy code, but they will probably cover their ass with the long license agreements that nobody ever reads.'

    The Therac-25 had flaws that killed people. Also read the IEEE article.

    --
    tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
  8. kevin mitnick was a con artist. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why do we revere him on slashdot and other places?

  9. grammar nazi by Down8 · · Score: 1

    There is no "of" after "myriad". Just FYI.

    -bZj

    --
    .sig
    1. Re:grammar nazi by Aranth+Brainfire · · Score: 1

      ... "a myriad issues"? Some grammar nazi you are.

      --
      "Quoting yourself is stupid." -Me
    2. Re:grammar nazi by Down8 · · Score: 1

      Look into it, you'll see that is correct.

      Unless the poster specifically meant 10,000 ways, there is no 'of'.

      REF: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=myriad

      -bZj

      --
      .sig
  10. The good ole days never ended. Unpatched old holes by free2 · · Score: 1

    Yipee, the good ole days never ended...
    http://secunia.com/product/22/
    http://secunia.com/product/11/

    It seems "hot fixes" are just for some of the old (and mildly warm) vulnerabilties.

  11. 1996 called... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am waiting for a case where a software maker gets sued for releasing buggy code, but they will probably cover their ass with the long license agreements that nobody ever reads.

    Thanks for the input douchebag, I'm waiting for a day when assholes stop capitolizing on their noteriety. Your 15 minutes ended long ago, please go back under the rock you crawled out from, and bring OJ with you.

    1996 called... they want their douchebag back