Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker

Washington Post, Forbes,
Newsweek, Time
, the 
Wall Street Journal
, and the 
Guardian
. The online site
Brill’s Content asked me to write a monthly column. Since I wasn’t allowed
anywhere near a computer, the people at Brill’s said they would be willing
to accept my drafts in longhand.
Meanwhile, other unusual job offers came pouring in as well. A security
company wanted me to serve on its advisory board, and Paramount Studios
invited me to consult on a possible new television series.
On hearing about these offers, however, my Probation Officer, Larry
Hawley, informed me that I could not write articles about computer
technology or participate in any other kind of work in which the topic was
even discussed. He insisted that the Probation Office considered all such
work to be “computer consulting,” which I was not allowed to do without
his express permission. I countered that writing about a subject didn’t mean
I was a consultant. The articles were intended for the general public. I was
doing essentially the same type of work that former hacker Kevin Poulsen
had done while he was on supervised release.
Undeterred, I sought out legal counsel. Sherman Ellison, an attorney
friend, agreed to represent me pro bono. Naturally, this meant that I would
have to plead my case before Judge Pfaelzer. Our more recent three-year-
long judicial relationship had not done much to improve our mutual regard.
Neither of us was glad to see the other.
“The Court had no doubt that we would be getting together with Mr.
Mitnick again,” Judge Pfaelzer said. What she meant, of course, was that
she had been expecting me to be brought in on new charges, or for violating
the terms of my supervised release. But in the end, she made it clear that the
attorneys would have to work it out among themselves and stressed that she
did not want to see me back in her courtroom. She was obviously tired of
the Mitnick case.

---

The Probation Office got the message: “Be a bit more flexible in the
Mitnick case so he doesn’t end up on calendar again.” The Probation Office
started being more reasonable and accommodating toward me.
In the fall of 2000, just after I finished an interview on Bill Handel’s very
popular morning show on Los Angeles radio station KFI-AM 640, I spoke
with the station’s program director, David G. Hall. He explained that
internationally syndicated talk-show host Art Bell would be retiring soon
and wanted to suggest me to the syndicator, Premier Radio Networks, as his
possible replacement. What an amazing compliment! I was stunned. I
admitted that I had no experience in hosting talk radio and in fact had
hardly ever listened to those shows myself, but I said I was willing to give it
a try.
A few days later, I auditioned as a guest host on the 
Tim & Neil
show,
and David offered me my own show, to be called 
The Darkside of the
Internet
. Later I brought in my close friend Alex Kasperavicius to cohost
with me. We exposed the dark corners of the Internet, telling listeners how
to protect their privacy, and answering listeners’ call-in questions on how to
best secure their personal computers, among other things, and talked about
all kinds of cool sites and services that were appearing online.
David Hall, a recognized leader in radio programming, gave me only
three words of advice: the show must be 
entertaining, relevant
, and
informative
. Right away, I invited on guests like Steve Wozniak, John
Draper, and even porn star Danni Ashe, who took her top off in the studio to
show us all how hot she was. (Listen up, Howard Stern, I’m following in
your footsteps!)
Because I still wasn’t allowed to use a computer, the station was kind
enough to provide me with a producer/screener who would go beyond that
job’s typical duties and help me with my Internet research. The hour-long
show aired every Sunday. During that hour, the station went from being
fourteenth in the Arbitron ratings to second. And defying the assumptions
that Judge Pfaelzer had used to calculate the dollar amount of my
restitution, I earned $1,000 for each show.
During my stint as a talk show host, J. J. Abrams, the famous film and
television producer, contacted me. He said he was a fan and had even

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placed a “Free Kevin” bumper sticker on a set in his hit television series