Kevin Mitnick, who was as soon as one of many world’s most wished pc hackers, has passed away at 59 on July sixteenth. In accordance with his obituary, Mitnick battled pancreatic most cancers for greater than a yr and was present process remedy on the College of Pittsburgh Medical Middle. “[M]uch of his life reads like a fiction story,” his obituary reads, and that is maybe the right method to describe his story. The primary time Mitnick infiltrated a pc system was method again in 1979, nevertheless it wasn’t till 1988 that he was convicted and sentenced to 12 months in jail for copying an organization’s software program.
He broke into Pacific Bell’s voicemail computer systems when he was beneath supervised launch after which continued to hack into cell networks, in addition to firm and authorities web sites, as a fugitive within the 90s. Mitnick was additionally concerned within the theft of hundreds of information and bank card numbers, however his obituary says he “by no means took one dime from any of his ‘victims.'” He was finally caught in 1995 and charged with unlawful use of a phone entry gadget and pc fraud. Apparently, authorities believed he had entry to company commerce secrets and techniques price thousands and thousands of {dollars} on the time.
Mitnick spent 5 years in jail, which he described as a “trip” by the point he was freed. From there, he modified the course of his profession and selected to develop into a White Hat hacker and cybersecurity guide. In 2011, he turned half proprietor and chief hacking officer of KnowBe4, which supplies safety consciousness coaching and a simulated phishing platform to purchasers. Earlier than all these occurred, Mitnick discovered tips on how to recreation LA’s public transportation system at 12 years previous by memorizing bus schedules and punch playing cards after which acquiring his personal punch software techniques so he might journey buses all day. Mitnick is survived by his spouse, Kimberley Mitnick, and their unborn baby.
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