Ghost in the Wires_ My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker - Kevin Mitnick [127]
Undiscouraged, I thought to myself, There’s always something that’s more challenging and fun to hack.
By this time, cell phones had shrunk a great deal from their earliest briefcase size. But they were still about as big as a man’s shoe and several times heavier. Then Motorola took a leap ahead of the rest of the industry with the first small, lightweight, well-designed mobile phone, the MicroTAC Ultra Lite. It looked like the Star Trek Communicator, the device Captain Kirk used for giving the command, “Beam me up, Scotty.” If the physical look of the phone was so different, the software that ran it surely must have a great many innovations as well.
I was still using the Novatel PTR-825 phone, the one I had conned Novatel into sending me the special chips for so that I could change the ESN from the keypad. It wasn’t anywhere near as sexy as the MicroTAC Ultra Lite. Maybe it was time for me to switch phones—if I could figure out a way to get the same capabilities I had with the Novatel. I would somehow have to get the source code for the phone from Motorola. How hard would that be? It presented a very interesting challenge.
I was so eager to dive in that I asked Elaine, my boss at the law firm, if I could take off early to attend to a personal matter, and she said okay. I left at around three. On the long elevator ride down forty-five floors, a couple of the firm’s associates were joking about a big case they were working on: the firm was representing Michael Jackson. I smiled to myself, thinking back to when I used to work at Fromin’s Delicatessen. The Jackson family had a big house right down the street, on Hayvenhurst, and stopped in every once in a while for a deli lunch or dinner. Now here I was, on an elevator a thousand miles away, running from the FBI and the U.S. Marshals, employed by a prestigious law firm that was representing one of the most famous musicians in the world.
As I started to walk to my apartment through a beginning snowfall, I called toll-free directory assistance and asked for Motorola, then called that number and told the friendly receptionist who answered that I was looking for the project manager for the MicroTAC Ultra Lite project.
“Oh, our Cellular Subscriber Group is based in Schaumburg, Illinois. Would you like the number?” she asked. Of course I would.
I called Schaumburg and said, “Hi, this is Rick with Motorola in Arlington Heights. I’m trying to reach the project manager for the MicroTAC Ultra Lite.” After being transferred around to several different people, I ended up speaking with a vice president in Research and Development. I gave him the same line about being from Arlington Heights and needing to reach the MicroTAC project manager.
I was worried that the executive might get suspicious about the traffic noises and occasional horns being blown by drivers eager to get home before the snow started piling up, but no. He just said, “That’s Pam, she works for me,” and gave me her telephone extension. Pam’s voicemail message announced that she was away on a two-week vacation, then advised, “If you need any help whatsoever, please call Alisa,” and gave her extension.
I called the number and said, “Hi, Alisa. It’s Rick with Research and Development in Arlington Heights. When I spoke to Pam last week, she talked about going on vacation. Did she leave yet?”
Of course Alisa answered, “Yes.”
“Well,” I said, “she was supposed to send me the source code for the MicroTAC Ultra Lite. But she said if she didn’t have time before she left, I should call you and you’d help me out.”
Her response was, “What version do you want?”
I smiled.
Great—no challenges about my identity, and she’s willing to help. But of course, I had no idea what the current version was, or even what numbering system was being used. So I just said, flippantly, “How about the latest and greatest?