Chapter 18
A Genius Hacker
American Martin Mitnick is the most famous computer criminal active before the year 2000 .
He was regarded as a first-class criminal who could easily obtain trade secrets worth $1 billion .
But despite the FBI’s efforts, it took seven years to arrest Martin .
It was only when he was in high school that he began to hack .
At the time, 18-year-old Martin had already invaded the computer systems of the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Harvest Springs and tested his skills .
“If you have a simple modem, you can start a nuclear war,” he would usually boast .
The police would follow the criminal’s whereabouts while tracing the telephone’s location, but they always ended up empty-handed . All the police’s actions were being leaked to him .
In 1980, he stole confidential files about telephone subscribers from a telephone company in California .
In 1981, he stole data on launch parameters for intercontinental ballistic missiles from a computer in the Department of Defense in Washington .
In 1982, he illegally accessed a computer used at a university in Southern California and locked out all others .
He was finally added to the FBI’s watchlist at the end of the year, but he disappeared soon after . Like the police, the FBI’s actions were all leaked to him .
Sponsored Content
Six years later, Martin Mitnick had completely vanished .
However, as he continued to run away, he did not stop hacking .
He could no longer stop taking over computers . For him it was a hardcore drug . His desire to invade machines and dominate everything could no longer be suppressed .
In 1988, it was discovered that Martin seemed to be involved in the data breach of a company .
After a long time, the FBI found a clue to Martin’s whereabouts and came up with the idea of using a hacker to arrest him .
An engineer of Japanese descent named Jerry Kawai who worked at the Supercomputer Center in San Diego was selected .
Kawai, in cooperation with the FBI, set out to capture Martin .
Sponsored Content
Martin’s fatal mistake was that he misunderstood that he had the absolute advantage . Being on the run for seven years, instead of depleting Martin, gave him more and more omnipotence and a sense of invincibility . Martin came to think that there was nothing beyond his own existence when manipulating computers .
When his phone’s signal was detected by a scanner and his hideout located, Martin could not believe he lost the battle of wits to the FBI .
Martin met Kawai for only a few seconds, just before being captured and pushed into a police car . Martin realized that Kawai was the same kind of person as himself .
“So, you’re the one who beat me . You win,” Martin said . “I respect your abilities”
Kawai shook his head and did not respond .
Sponsored Content
The police had no idea what the total damages of Martin’s crime would be .
However, as a result of independent calculations performed by the mobile phone companies, the amount of damages was estimated to be in the millions of dollars .
Martin was released from prison in Los Angeles on January 21, 2000 . However, since then, he has been forbidden from using computers, the Internet, and mobile devices .
Translator’s Note: Martin Mitnick is based on famous hacker Kevin Mitnick . Kevin Mitnick was active in the 1990s .
Harvest Springs is a reference to Colorado Springs, the real-life HQ of NORAD .
Jerry Kawai is probably based on Tsutomu Shimomura .