Kevin Mitnick was one of America's most notorious hackers so much so it was once said he was so dangerous if he was allowed access to a phone he could start a nuclear war by whistling into it. Mitnick threatened the privacy and jeopardized the operations of many of America's most powerful companies such as Sun Microsystems, Digital equipment corporation, Motorola, Netcom, Nokia and even the FBI. Mitnick gained even more notoriety considering these were some of the most well guarded computer networks in America. Mitnick was able to gain access to all of the information housed in these systems by bypassing the security systems and he was even able to wiretap the FBI (connecting a device allowing you to listen into private telephone conversations. Mitnick even toyed with McDonald's for a bit of fun.
Impact
Through his use of wiretapping the FBI's telephone systems the FBI's confidentiality promise and the right for a person to remain anonymous was jeopardized as Mitnick knew what exactly was being reported and who it was by. Mitnick was also able to disadvantage the FBI, this is because he was able to always keep on top of any evidence the FBI had on him. This in turn enabled him to cover his tracks if he felt the FBI were getting close to a conviction. He also had an impact on McDonald's and its customers, he hacked into the frequency of a local McDonald's drive-through. He would either insult the customers who drove in or would make up offers such as your order is free. This meant that a lot of customers left feeling very offended and annoyed so have maybe chosen not to go back to McDonald's.
Resolution
Mitnick was finally arrested on February 15th 1995 and in 1999 he confessed to 4 counts of wire fraud, two counts of computer fraud and one count of illegally intercepting a wire communication. Mitnick was sentenced to 46 months plus and extra 22 months for violating the supervised release sentence for computer fraud. After serving 5 years in prison he was released and at first the only piece of communication technology he was aloud to use was a landline. Nowadays he runs Mitnick Security Consultaants Ltd a company specialising in testing and advising on how to improve a companies computer network.
References
http://www.forbes.com/sites/singularity/2013/04/11/kevin-mitnick-the-hacking-hamburglar/
http://gizmodo.com/5925114/kevin-mitnick-the-worlds-most-notorious-hacker-is-here-to-talk-about-what-got-him-started
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