I agree that the analysis is tricker though I disagree that Kevin Mitnick is an appropriate example—Mitnick is quite innocent in the scale of what Gericke’s employer (Signals Intelligence Agency [SIA]) has done[0][1], even if we were to exaggerate Mitnick’s crimes.
That's the reason for the quotes around "criminal" above. Mitnick turning "white hat" just happened to be the first (roughly) analogous example that popped to mind.