Of course I didn’t see it when it was published, but Markoff’s article in the next day’s New York Times— even longer than his Independence Day piece of the year before, and once again on the front page—seemed certain to cement the image of Osama bin Mitnick in the public’s mind. Markoff quoted Kent Walker, the Assistant U.S. Attorney from San Francisco, as saying, "[Mitnick] was arguably the most wanted computer hacker in the world. He allegedly had access to trade secrets worth billions of dollars. He was a very big threat."