LOS ANGELES (Jan 22, 1996 11:27  a.m. EST) -- He is either a 
harmful cyber felon who stole millions of dollars in software 
and credit card numbers, or he is merely a minor criminal whose 
evil image is the product of media hype and society's 
ignorance.

   Or perhaps Kevin Mitnick, the 32-year-old son of a Panorama 
City waitress, is a little of both.

   Two new books have cast Mitnick in vastly different, albeit 
starring roles in what amounts to a cautionary tale about the 
Internet and the uncharted depths of digital crime.

   And as part of a he-said, she-said subplot, the authors now 
are taking shots at each other's journalistic competence and 
ethics, complete with accusations of
 profit-driven bias.

   On one side is The New York Times reporter John Markoff and 
San Diego computer security expert Tsutomu Shimomura, who 
co-wrote "Takedown." On the other is Jonathan Littman, a Bay 
Area writer who authored "The Fugitive Game -- On Line With 
Kevin Mitnick."

   Mitnick is now in federal custody in Los Angeles, where he is 
awaiting a Jan. 29 court hearing. He was captured Feb. 15 in 
North Carolina after Shimomura led the FBI on a nationwide 
manhunt, all witnessed firsthand and exclusively by Markoff.

   "This guy (Mitnick) is not an ax murderer, but he is costing 
dozens of companies thousands to clean up after him," Markoff 
said during an interview Wednesday . "I don't think that in any 
of my writing I have ever meant to demonize Kevin Mitnick."

   "Because the media turned it into a circus -- does that 
justify what Kevin did?" he asked. "He defined an era in which 
we are moving from a physical world to this world of 
cyberspace."

   In "Takedown," the story of the hunter, Shimomura, Mitnick is 
accused of having illegally read people's electronic mail and 
stolen credit card numbers and so ftware that could be used to 
reap riches and crack computers.

   But Littman tells a different story of Mitnick -- that is, the 
story of the hunted, based in part on interviews with the hacker 
himself.

   "Kevin Mitnick was turned into an icon, an icon of all that we 
should fear. A nd the trouble is, I don't think he is a real 
danger," Littman said in an interview. "He never actually did 
the things that fit the demon image that was created for him by 
Markoff and Shimomura."

   Mitnick has pleaded guilty in North Carolina to cellular 
telephone fraud as part of a plea bargain that would throw out 
all but one of 23 charges. If the plea is accepted, Mitnick 
could face eight months in prison.

   Now in Los Angeles, Mitnick must answer to charges that he 
violated supervised release, a condition of an earlier computer 
crime conviction. Mitnick is accused of having broken into a 
telephone company computer.

   The state's Department of Motor Vehicles also issued a warrant 
for his arrest, accusing him of having eavesdropped on federal 
agents in order to illegally obtain driver's license 
information.

   But if any additional charges are pending against Mitnick, the 
U.S. Attorney's Office has not filed them or has kept them 
sealed.

   Mitnick's attorney, John Yzurdiaga, said Mitnick does indeed 
face other charges, but he could not discuss them because they 
are under negotiation.

   "It is a very, very tricky area of the law. Computer fraud is 
thought as fraud, where you take something belonging to someone 
else and profit from it," he said. "Kevin has never profited by 
anything he has done."

   Yzurdiaga readily concedes that Mitnick illegally cracked 
computers and is skilled enough to have done much damage, but he 
points out that he didn't do so and has not been charged with 
any such crimes.

   Yet Mitnick's image persists.

   "When you don't understand the computer world, you are 
susceptible to being taken in by hyperbole of people like John 
Markoff and Shimomura. Those guys are promoting a book," 
Yzurdiaga said.

   David Schindler, the lead federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, 
said Mitnick's crimes are "quite serious," regardless of whether 
he is "the worst individual to travel the Internet or the 
second-worst or the 10th worst."

   Schindler wouldn't say whether Mitnick faces charges beyond 
beyond  those made public.

   As to whether Mitnick's punishment will reflect his 
larger-than-life reputation, Schindler said that sentencing 
guidelines may be lagging behind the hacking crimes.

   "That is not a decision we as prosecutors are asked to make," 
he said. "There are those who say any punishment is undeserving 
-- and obviously I disagree with those sentiments."

   Both "Takedown" and "Fugitive Game" touch on the role FBI 
informant Justin Pe tersen had in catching Mitnick. Petersen is 
serving 41 months in prison for electronically rigging radio 
station contests and transferring $150,000 from a bank.

   "People who may have gone after Mitnick may actually be more 
dangerous than Mitnick himself," Littman said.

   According to Littman, Mitnick was drawn to Shimomura's 
computer because it contained software that could be used to 
eavesdrop on cellular telephone calls and Internet 
communications.

   "You've got to start asking the question who is more 
dangerous? Mitnick or Shimomura?" Littman said.

   Markoff counters that his stories are accurate and fair. 
Further, he contends that Shimomura was developing sophisticated 
programs to help secure the Internet, not compromise it. In 
fact, that very technology was key in catching Mitnick.

   "It raises very thorny problems about security and privacy, 
but I don't think Tsutomu was wrong to develop the tools," 
Markoff said.