The 'Legendary Hacker' Who Fooled the FBI Dies of Pancreatic Cancer, Leaving Pregnant Wife Behind

Kevin Mitnick, Arrested for Hacking Corporate Computers
Active as a Security Consultant After Release

Kevin Mitnick, known as a legendary hacker, has passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 59.

Kevin Mitnick [Photo by AP Yonhap News]

On the 20th (local time), KnowBe4, the security company where Mitnick worked, announced, "Mitnick peacefully passed away on the 16th after battling pancreatic cancer for 14 months."

According to KnowBe4, Mitnick is survived by his wife, who is currently pregnant. Mitnick's wife expressed her condolences on Twitter, saying, "Our son will come to know you, and I am sure the child will resemble you," and added, "I am grateful that there are friends all over the world who will tell our son who you were."

Born in 1963 in Los Angeles, Mitnick showed a talent for hacking from his teenage years, before the development of computers and the internet. He was known to primarily use psychological manipulation to extract information rather than attacks using software.

In his twenties, Mitnick illegally accessed computer systems of telecommunications and software companies such as Motorola and Sun Microsystems, causing damages worth millions of dollars. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tracked Mitnick's activities, but he eavesdropped on FBI agents' conversations and obtained information, evading capture for over two years.

In 1994, Mitnick was caught and arrested after hacking into the computer of Tsutomu Shimomura, a security expert at a supercomputer center. He was sentenced to five years in prison and was released in 2000 under the condition that he would not use computers or mobile phones for three years.

After his release, Mitnick founded Mitnick Security Consulting in 2003 and began working as a security expert. He also published several books based on his experiences, including Ghost In the Wires (2011) and The Art of Invisibility (2017).

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