Mitnick Kevin David

Kevin David Mitnick

Mitnick Kevin David is an information security consultant and teacher. In the past , he is a legendary hacker, the most wanted cybercriminal in the United States. Jewish by nationality. Born August 6, 1963 in Los Angeles, California (USA).

Biography

The 1970th

Growing up in a dysfunctional family - Mitnick's mother paid little attention to her son, not to mention his adventures. In the 70s, he was fond of fricking and, like many novice hackers of that time, had fun with free long-distance calls through the AT&T network. Prior to that, he practiced free trips on public transport, breaking into the system of issuing bus tickets.

1980-2003

In 1980, he distinguished himself by penetrating the computer administrative network of his own school. however, the data did not suffer - Mitnik tried for the sake of self-assertion.

In 1981, he hacked the computer system of the North American air defense forces in Colorado. In 1982, Mitnick stole classified materials from the Pacific Bell corporate network. They obtained textbooks on COSMOS'y and MicroPort'y, plus some useful software. For this, Kevin was convicted, sentenced to three months at the Los Angeles Center for the Re-Education of Minors and received a year probation. Just a couple of weeks after his release from custody, Mitnick receives an additional six months in prison for using a university computer to unauthorized access to the Pentagon's ARPANet network.

After serving his sentence for a long time, it does without problems, but already in 1988 he received three years probation for stealing computer programs from Santa Cruz Operation. By the end of that year, Mitnick is again behind bars. He is charged with stealing private computer code from the Digital Equipment Corporation research laboratory in Palo Alta.

The judge also ordered a forced six-month course of treatment for "computer addiction" for him. Doctors who examined Kevin Mitnick concluded that computer hacks give him the opportunity to assert himself and get the sense of self-respect that he so lacked in real life. From that moment, every major hack and penetration into state networks incriminates Mitnik. Kevin decides to hide and under the name Brian Merrill lives in a small town, earning money as a computer technician in one of the local hospitals and honing the skills of a cracker.

During the same period, he was charged with authorship of theft of cellular control systems by Motorola, Nokia and McCaw Cellular Communication Inc., hacking the security system of the famous Sun Microsystems, as well as stealing an early version of the SATAN computer network protection program. The police follow Mitnick's trail, but he manages to escape.

However, on February 15, 1995, at 1.30 at night, Kevin Mitnick was still arrested. He spent five years in prison and was released on bail on January 21, 2003, having received significant restrictions on the use of some modern communication means. Subsequently, disputes did not subside around the name Mitnik for a long time. Today, Mitnick is a consultant who helps the police catch people like him. Among other things, Kevin lectures on information security.

2023: Death

On July 16, 2023, at the age of 59, Kevin Mitnick, one of the world's most famous hackers, passed away. In 1995, The New York Times called him "the most wanted computer criminal in the United States." The cause of death was pancreatic cancer and related complications.

Kevin David Mitnick was born in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles on August 6, 1963, and grew up in the same city. His parents, Alan Mitnick and Shelley Jaffey, divorced when the boy was 3 years old and was raised by his mother, a waitress. Staying alone for a long time, Kevin began to immerse himself in the virtual world. First, he began to forge travel cards for bus travel, and later became interested in telephone networks. Mitnik committed his first serious act at the age of 16, when he received unauthorized access to the computer network of Digital Equipment Corporation.

Kevin Mitnick

Mitnik gained the greatest fame in the 1990s. He stole thousands of credit card numbers and also hacked computer and cellular networks, inflicting millions in losses on corporations. Other crimes include stealing software used to keep wireless calls private and process payment information.

The FBI searched for Mitnick for two years, but he skillfully hid, using his skills and deep knowledge in the field of telephone communications and computer networks. In the end, the hacker was arrested in 1995: he was charged with illegal use of phone access devices and computer fraud. Mitnick reached plea agreements in 1996 and 1999, and was released from prison in 2000. After that, he became an information security consultant. In addition, he was engaged in writing memoirs.^[1]

Interesting facts

• Kevin Mitnick's activities are depicted with some conventions in the film Track Down by Joe Chapelle, shot in 2000 based on the book by Tsutoma Shimomura, a hacker who was directly involved in Mitnick's capture. Until now, this work causes many disputes regarding the plausibility of events.
• Mitnick wrote two books, the first titled "The Art of Deception" and the second titled "The Art of Invasion."

Links

Kevin Mitnick's official website

Notes