
To many, the name Kevin Mitnick is synonymous with hacking, the cinematic sort where a snot-nosed kid thumbs his nose at authority. But, Mitnick says, the characterization is a bit overdone and the legend untrue, if not libelous. It is true, he says, that he broke into corporate computer systems and stole source code to satisfy his curiosity, but <A HREF="http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/10/07/kevin.mitnick.cnna/index.html">he denies the stories</A> that he hacked into NORAD--North American Aerospace Defense Command--or that he wiretapped the FBI.