Former hacker testifies to Congress about computer security

A convicted computer hacker told lawmakers Thursday that many attacks on companies that hold consumer financial information go undetected because of poor security. Kevin Mitnick, whose federal probation on hacking charges ended in January, said businesses need to better protect their computers from newly discovered security flaws and train employees to spot the tricks of identity thieves. “The bad guys are going to look for the weakest link in the security chain,” said Mitnick, who served five years in federal prison for stealing software and altering data at Motorola, Novell, Nokia, Sun Microsystems and the University of Southern California. He now runs a business to help companies guard against computer attacks. Prompted by three recent cases of information theft involving the accounts of millions of people, two subcommittees of the House Financial Services Committee heard from law enforcement and corporate officials on the growing vulnerability of consumers’ most sensitive financial information. Full Story