I've seen no reason to believe that most whitehats are closet hackers. In my case, I got into the security industry after learning, as a system administrator, how easy it is to compromise systems. I tested systems I had legitimate rights to test.

In Kevin Mitnick's case, I think it's a bit unrealistic to believe a few years of time during which he hasn't been caught hacking anything make his lengthy history evaporate. Sorry, but once you've crossed the line you've demonstrated the ethical capacity and willingness to do it. "Reformed" is a euphamism for "I don't want to get busted again." I'd much rather hire someone who didn't need to be "reformed" in the first place.

I wouldn't preclude having him teach social engineering, but under no circumstances would I grant him or any other convicted hacker access to my systems.

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