[ISN] 'Millionaire' German Hacker Nearly Bankrupt - Report

From: InfoSec News (isnat_private)
Date: Thu Oct 25 2001 - 01:37:11 PDT

  • Next message: InfoSec News: "[ISN] Sharing key to combating threats"

    http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171473.html
    
    By Brian McWilliams, Newsbytes
    MUNICH, GERMANY,
    24 Oct 2001, 1:46 PM CST
    
    Kim Schmitz, a self-proclaimed millionaire hacker, is on the verge of
    financial ruin, according to a report by a German financial magazine.
    
    Schmitz, who recently gained notoriety for organizing a group known as
    Yihat or "Young Intelligent Hackers Against Terrorism," has been
    ordered by a court to hand over his shares in an investment fund he
    founded to pay off a creditor, according to the current issue of Die
    Teleboerse.
    
    Banks are doubtful that the value of Schmitz's shares will cover his
    debt, said the report by Die Teleboerse, which also operates CNN.de,
    CNN's German-language news and information site serving Germany.
    
    The investment fund, Kimvestor AG, was founded in January 2000 with
    Schmitz as chief executive officer. Its holdings include high-tech
    start-ups Monkey AG, and megaCar AG, both of which are scheduled to go
    public next year, according to the fund's Web site.
    
    A third company founded by the 27-year-old Schmitz, TUEV Dataprotect
    GmbH, has filed for insolvency, said the magazine's report.
    
    Schmitz did not respond to interview requests.
    
    Last month, Schmitz claimed to Newsbytes that his net worth was more
    than $100 million. In March, the hacker-turned-entrepreneur told
    Business Week magazine that Kimvestor would have net income of $553
    million in 2004.
    
    At his personal Web site, Kimble.org, Schmitz offers photos of his
    cars, yacht, and jet, as well as images from recent trips to Monaco,
    Cuba, and Brazil.
    
    Schmitz has offered a $10 million dollar reward for information
    leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Osama bin Laden,
    according to a page at his site.
    
    In a online chat room this week, Schmitz offered a $10,000 bounty for
    information about the true identity of a hacker named Fluffy Bunny who
    repeatedly defaced Schmitz's Web sites earlier this month.
    
    In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on America, Schmitz formed Yihat
    with the mission of disrupting terrorist computer networks. The hacker
    claimed Yihat had successfully penetrated two Arab banks and obtained
    information on accounts held by bin Laden and the Al Qaeda terrorist
    network. Officials from the two financial institutions deny any
    security breaches occurred or that the terrorist leader had accounts
    at the banks.
    
    Kimvestor is online at http://www.kimvestor.com
    
    Die Teleboerse is on the Web at http://dieteleboerse.n-tv.de
    
    
    
    -
    ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org
    
    To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY
    of the mail.
    



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Oct 25 2001 - 03:08:36 PDT