Mitnick laptop for sale on eBay

Notorious computer hacker Kevin Mitnick has put the laptop seized during his 1995 arrest up for sale on eBay.

The venerable Toshiba Satellite T1960CS, 486 laptop was one of two PCs allegedly used by Mitnick to hack into networks of major corporations, including Motorola and Sun Microsystems. It was seized when he was arrested by the FBI on February 15, 1995, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The laptop became an important part of the Mitnick case before he decided to plead guilty to charges of wire fraud and intercepting communications, as part of a plea bargaining arrangement in 1999. It was recently returned to Mitnick by the FBI.

Forbes reports that some encrypted data has subsequently been wiped from the machine.

If you bid for the laptop (which is still working) you'll get a machine loaded with Windows 95, complete with a 14.4K modem and various documents of authenticity, including FBI evidence bags.

Mitnick is prohibited from using the Internet under the terms of his release. The auction is been conducted for him by his girlfriend and its proceeds will go towards paying off his legal bills.

Although eBay balked at the sale of other notable trinkets - such as his prison ID tag - in 2000, it seems happy enough to carry out the latest sale. Mitnick is forbidden from selling his story until 2007 but selling hardware connected with some of his more infamous exploits is apparently fine.

Bidding for the laptop stands at $9,200 (below its reserve price) with just over four days of bidding yet to go. ®