Forwarded From: Erik Parker <netmaskat_private> http://www.wired.com/news/news/email/explode-infobeat/politics/story/19488.html How Much Damage Did Mitnick Do? by Douglas Thomas 3:00 a.m. 5.May.99.PDT LOS ANGELES -- Companies targeted by notorious cracker Kevin Mitnick claim his illegal forays inside their networks cost them nearly US$300 million, recently published letters revealed. The estimate, published in 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, represents the combined losses of Mitnick's victims, which include NEC, Motorola, Nokia, and Sun Microsystems. The figures were based on the "amount of work done to create the material" as well as time spent in research and development, testing, and time lost in future development. The figures may have been used by government attorneys to calculate wire fraud damages in Mitnick's recent plea bargain, according to 2600, which has actively supported Mitnick. Sun estimated its damages at $80 million, the price it paid to acquire Solaris -- the Unix-based operating system -- from AT&T in 1994, 2600 reported. Nokia's damages included development costs as well as $7.5 million for testing and "$120 million in lost revenue due to new developments being delayed in reaching the market." But 2600 said the losses were not reported either to the IRS or to shareholders, raising doubts about the actual impact on the companies. Mitnick's attorneys have petitioned to see a breakdown of corporate losses and requested instructions from the court for interpreting the information. Mitnick, who will be formally sentenced on 14 June, returns to court next week, when the question of damages, as well as his ability to pay them, will be considered. Jennifer Grannick, a Bay Area attorney who defends clients charged with computer-related crimes, said deciding damages can be a complicated matter. In Mitnick's case, the standard of proof is low at the sentencing stage, assessment is in the hands of the victims, and the defendant has a limited right to discovery. But Grannick says it's a mistake to treat intellectual property as an all-or-nothing issue. In spite of the money they invested in the software, she said, "the victim companies haven't been deprived of its use or its value." Mitnick, 35, who has already spent four years behind bars, will spend an additional year in jail, according to a plea agreement reached in March. He is also prohibited from using a computer upon his release and any income he receives as the result of his conviction -- such as book sales -- must be turned over to his victims. Four of the five counts to which Mitnick pleaded guilty involved impersonating employees for several major cellular phone manufacturing companies in order to obtain access to proprietary software. The fifth charge, the only computer hacking offense, involved changing data on computers at the University of Southern California, which resulted in maintenance in excess of $1,000 to close security holes and delete files. -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Hacker News Network [www.hackernews.com]
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