Kevin Mitnick dead at age 59: Hacker who landed on FBI’s most wanted list & wrote book about it dies after cancer battle
INTERNET OUTLAW Kevin Mitnick dead at age 59: Hacker who landed on FBI’s most wanted list & wrote book about it dies after cancer battle
AN infamous computer hacker who landed on the FBI's most wanted list then referred to his time in prison as a vacation has died at 59.
Kevin Mitnick died on Sunday after battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year, his family wrote in an obituary.
2 Notorious hacker Kevin Mitnick has died at age 59 Credit: Getty
2 Mitnick was known for serving five years in prison, including eight months in solitary, for illegally gaining access to software Credit: Getty
Mitnick was known for serving several stints in prison, including eight months in solitary, after hacking into cell phones and copying software unlawfully.
He wrote about his time on the FBI's Most Wanted List in his New York Times bestselling book The Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker.
Supporters argued that his crimes caused no real damage and that the punishment was unnecessary while prosecutors claimed that he could threaten national security with his wide access.
Mitnick's arrest sparked a Free Kevin movement which saw supporters rally for the man, who locals say appeared to be an average IT worker.
In his obituary, family thanked anyone who sided with Mitnick throughout the controversy and described his life as being like a fiction story.
"He had so much living left to do. And we know, with broken hearts, that there will never ever be anyone like him again," the obit reads.
Mitnick began his hacking career at age 16, when he started gaining access to unauthorized systems.
His first target was a computer system that Digital Equipment Corporation was using in the 1980s.
After gaining access to the company's system, he downloaded the software illegally, leading officials to track him down and convict him in 1988.
He was sentenced to 12 months in prison and another three years of supervised release.
At the end of his release, he was caught again for hacking Pacific Bell voicemail computers, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He ran from the law and lived as a fugitive for two-and-a-half years.
“I never, in doing this, wanted to harm anybody. I was just having fun. I was being the magician by breaking the systems and getting the code,” Mitnick said in 2018, according to The Denver Post.
“That’s why I was going after cellphones, that’s why I was going after operating systems — to become better at hacking them.”
According to his obituary, Mitnick referred to his final stint in prison as a "vacation" but still came back a changed man.
Mitnick began to implement his services as a White Hat or ethical hacker, and through other endeavors like his cybersecurity company and public speaking.
He worked as a sought-after security consultant and won over people who worked in tech, government, and finance.
However, retired New York Times reporter John Markoff, who covered Mitnick's escapades, feels that he never truly owned up to his crimes.
“What he did as an outlaw was to exploit the best quality in people - their desire to help," he said.
"Remember, he spent five years in prison for stealing software from a range of companies. He was sharing the software with an Israeli citizen.
"The cost to the companies was enormous. He also did lasting damage to individuals who lost their jobs as a result of his activities - something he has never acknowledged responsibility for.”
Mitnick also authored three other books: The Art of Deception and The Art of Intrusion, both co-authored with William Simon, and The Art of Invisibility with Robert Vamosi.
He is survived by his wife Kimberley, who is pregnant with their first child.
Source: The US Sun
