News


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         CRM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1995                       (202) 514-2008
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
                FUGITIVE COMPUTER HACKER ARRESTED
                        IN NORTH CAROLINA


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- FBI agents and the Raleigh-Durham
Fugitive Task Force today arrested Kevin Mitnick, a well-known
computer hacker and federal fugitive on charges he violated
probation, the Department of Justice announced.
     The arrest occurred at 1:30 a.m. after an intensive two-week
electronic manhunt, which led law enforcement agents to Mitnick's
apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina.  
     Mitnick, 31, was convicted by federal authorities in 1988 in
Los Angeles for stealing computer programs and breaking into
corporate networks.  He received a one-year sentence in that
case, and a federal warrant was later issued following Mitnick's
violation of probation.
     In this most recent incident, Mitnick is alleged to have
electronically attacked numerous corporate and communications
carriers located in California, Colorado, and North Carolina
where he caused damage and stole proprietary information.
     Mitnick's capture represents a coordinated effort by law
enforcement and private industry, including system administrators
and security representatives from companies allegedly attacked by
Mitnick.  One of these sites, the San Diego Supercomputer Center
(SDSC), and Tsutomu Shimomura, a Senior Fellow at SDSC, provided
significant assistance to law enforcement personnel during the
investigation. 
     Mitnick also is under investigation by state law enforcement
authorities in California and Washington State for separate
activities there.
     As is typical in such interstate computer cases, many FBI
offices, U.S. Attorneys' offices, and other law enforcement
agencies have coordinated their efforts.  These offices include
the FBI's National Computer Crime Squad at the Washington
Metropolitan Field Office, as well as FBI and U.S. Attorneys'
Offices in Raleigh and Greensboro, North Carolina; San Diego, Los
Angeles and San Francisco, California; and Denver, Colorado.
     Members of the Raleigh-Durham Task Force which made the
arrest included the U.S. Marshals Service, the North Carolina
State Bureau of Investigation, and the local sheriffs' offices.
     Legal and technical assistance is also being provided by the
Criminal Division's Computer Crime Unit in Washington, D.C.
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