Doing time in the big house has not hurt the writing career of ex-Internet hacker, Kevin Poulsen. Publishers Weekly is reporting today that Poulsen has sold his book “Kingpin” to Crown. In the 1980s and 1990s, Poulsen had quite a colorful reputation as a cyber criminal and was once a fugitive on the run. In one of his notorious hacks, Poulsen reportedly engineered a scheme to rig call-in contests of Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM to win two Porsches, some vacation trips, and thousands of dollars.
Finally captured by authorities, Poulsen pleaded guilty to a variety of charges including money laundering, mail, wire, and computer fraud in June of 1994. Poulsen was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison. In the past few years, Poulsen has pursued a different career — that of journalist. He is now a high profile blogger and senior editor of Wired magazine.
Jonathan Littman wrote a book about Poulsen’s cyber exploits. “The Watchman: The Twisted Life and Crimes of Serial Hacker Kevin Poulsen” was published in 1997. According to his agency’s website, LaunchBooks, Poulsen’s book is a true crime narrative about “… the story of Max Butler, the hacker and former FBI informant who in an incredibly audacious move single-handedly cornered the worldwide billion-dollar black market in stolen credit cards before finally being taken down by an FBI sting.”
No word yet on how much money Poulsen’s deal is worth or when his book is due to hit store shelves.
