He had started at age 12 by forging bus cards with a punch. Kevin Mitnick, one of the most famous computer hackers, the first cybercriminal to be listed among the most wanted people in the United States in the 90s, died Sunday at the age of 59, American media announced Thursday.
This repentant hacker suffered from pancreatic cancer. He died alongside his pregnant wife with their first child, according to an obituary posted online by a funeral home in Las Vegas, where he was from. THE New York Timeswhich reported the information, also obtained confirmation from the cybersecurity company co-founded by the hacker.
Nicknamed “The Condor”, Kevin Mitnick was considered in the 90s as the king of hackers, for having long defied the American authorities by remotely stealing thousands of data files, including industrial secrets, and credit card numbers, which he claims to have never used.
Five years in prison
He had been arrested in 1995 by the FBI, thanks to the help of another cybersecurity specialist, the Japanese Tsutomu Shimomura, whose computer he had managed to hack. Indicted for illegal use of the telephone network and computer fraud, Kevin Mitnick pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
A disproportionate punishment for his fans who then organized a worldwide movement of support, even attacking media sites to display a “Free Kevin” banner. According to legendhe spent eight months in solitary confinement because the authorities managed to convince a judge that Mitnick was able to trigger a nuclear strike by whistling from a telephone booth.
On his release from prison in January 2000, he became a “white hat”, the name given to ethical hackers who test computer security on behalf of companies.
He also gave lectures and had written several books, including an account of his years on the run: The Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker (Little Brown and Company, 2011), or even The art of trickery (Pearson, 2003) on the practice of ‘social engineering’.
His life had inspired the film Cyberstalking directed by Joe Chappelle in 2000, where the role of Mitnick was played by actor Skeet Ulrich.