Episode 4 - Cybercrime: Kevin Mitnick

In this episode of Das 1x1 True Crime, Jean-Paul and Lisa explore the Kevin Mitnick case — a cybercrime story without a traditional crime scene, but full of phone lines, log files, false identities, and digital traces. The episode begins with the 1994 intrusion into security expert Tsutomu Shimomura’s systems, a key moment in the hunt that eventually led investigators to Raleigh, North Carolina, where Mitnick was arrested by the FBI in 1995. The discussion follows Mitnick’s early interest in telephone systems, his conflicts with the law, the DEC case, his time as a fugitive, and the role of social engineering in both the investigation and his public image. It also looks at disputed damage claims, media exaggerations, long pretrial detention, his 1999 guilty plea, release in 2000, and later work as a security consultant. A case about technology, trust, fear, and the evolution of digital forensics.