'Millionaire' German Hacker Nearly Bankrupt - Report

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171473.html

By Brian McWilliams, Newsbytes
MUNICH, GERMANY,
24 Oct 2001, 1:46 PM CST

Kim Schmitz, a self-proclaimed millionaire hacker, is on the verge of
financial ruin, according to a report by a German financial magazine.

Schmitz, who recently gained notoriety for organizing a group known as
Yihat or "Young Intelligent Hackers Against Terrorism," has been
ordered by a court to hand over his shares in an investment fund he
founded to pay off a creditor, according to the current issue of Die
Teleboerse.

Banks are doubtful that the value of Schmitz's shares will cover his
debt, said the report by Die Teleboerse, which also operates CNN.de,
CNN's German-language news and information site serving Germany.

The investment fund, Kimvestor AG, was founded in January 2000 with
Schmitz as chief executive officer. Its holdings include high-tech
start-ups Monkey AG, and megaCar AG, both of which are scheduled to go
public next year, according to the fund's Web site.

A third company founded by the 27-year-old Schmitz, TUEV Dataprotect
GmbH, has filed for insolvency, said the magazine's report.

Schmitz did not respond to interview requests.

Last month, Schmitz claimed to Newsbytes that his net worth was more
than $100 million. In March, the hacker-turned-entrepreneur told
Business Week magazine that Kimvestor would have net income of $553
million in 2004.

At his personal Web site, Kimble.org, Schmitz offers photos of his
cars, yacht, and jet, as well as images from recent trips to Monaco,
Cuba, and Brazil.

Schmitz has offered a $10 million dollar reward for information
leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Osama bin Laden,
according to a page at his site.

In a online chat room this week, Schmitz offered a $10,000 bounty for
information about the true identity of a hacker named Fluffy Bunny who
repeatedly defaced Schmitz's Web sites earlier this month.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on America, Schmitz formed Yihat
with the mission of disrupting terrorist computer networks. The hacker
claimed Yihat had successfully penetrated two Arab banks and obtained
information on accounts held by bin Laden and the Al Qaeda terrorist
network. Officials from the two financial institutions deny any
security breaches occurred or that the terrorist leader had accounts
at the banks.

Kimvestor is online at http://www.kimvestor.com

Die Teleboerse is on the Web at http://dieteleboerse.n-tv.de



-
ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org

To unsubscribe email majordomo () attrition org with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY
of the mail.