Kevin Mitnick

Kevin David Mitnick (August 6, 1963 – July 16, 2023) was an American computer security consultant, author, and convicted hacker. In 1995, he was arrested for various computer and communications-related crimes, and spent five years in prison after being convicted of fraud and illegally intercepting communications.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> Mitnick's pursuit, arrest, trial and sentence were all controversialTemplate:Clarify, as were the associated media coverage, books, and films.<ref name="kroll">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After his release from prison, he ran his own security firm, Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC, and was also involved with other computer security businesses.

Early life and education

Mitnick was born on August 6, 1963,<ref name="WaPoObit" /> in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His father was Alan Mitnick, his mother was Shelly Jaffe, and his maternal grandmother was Reba Vartanian.<ref name="nyt">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mitnick was Jewish,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref> Template:Cite web</ref> and grew up in Los Angeles, California.<ref name="WaPoObit" /> At age 12, Mitnick convinced a bus driver to tell him where he could buy his own ticket punch for "a school project", and was then able to ride any bus in the greater Los Angeles area using unused transfer slips he found in a dumpster next to the bus company garage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Mitnick attended James Monroe High School in North Hills,<ref name="ghostinwiresmya00mitn_0" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> during which time he became a licensed amateur radio operator with callsign WA6VPS<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (his license was restored after imprisonment with callsign N6NHG<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>). He chose the nickname "Condor" after watching the movie Three Days of the Condor.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He was later enrolled at Los Angeles Pierce College and USC.<ref name="ghostinwiresmya00mitn_0" />

Career

For a time, Mitnick worked as a receptionist for Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles.<ref name="ghostinwiresmya00mitn_0" />

Computer hacking

Mitnick gained unauthorized access to a computer network in 1979, at 16, when a friend gave him the telephone number for the Ark, the computer system that Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) used for developing its RSTS/E operating system software.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He broke into DEC's computer network and copied the company's software, a crime for which he was charged and convicted in 1988. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Near the end of his supervised release, Mitnick hacked into Pacific Bell voicemail computers. After a warrant was issued for his arrest, Mitnick fled, becoming a fugitive for two-and-a-half years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

According to the United States Department of Justice, Mitnick gained unauthorized access to dozens of computer networks while he was a fugitive. He used cloned cellular phones to hide his location and, among other things, copied valuable proprietary software from some of the country's largest cellular telephone and computer companies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="rose">Template:Cite book</ref> Mitnick also intercepted and stole computer passwords, altered computer networks, and broke into and read private emails.<ref name="rose" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Arrest, conviction, and incarceration

Black sans serif text "FREE KEVIN" on a yellow background

Supporters from 2600 Magazine distributed "Free Kevin" bumper stickers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After a well-publicized pursuit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Mitnick on February 15, 1995 at his apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina on federal offenses related to a two-and-a-half-year period of computer hacking that included computer and wire fraud.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>The Colbert ReportTemplate:Nonspecific</ref> He was found with cloned cell phones, more than 100 cloned cellular phone codes, and multiple pieces of false identification.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 1998, Mitnick was charged in the United States District Court for the Central District of California with 14 counts of wire fraud, eight counts of possession of unauthorized access devices, interception of wire or electronic communications, unauthorized access to a federal computer, and causing damage to a computer.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> As part of a plea bargain, Mitnick pleaded guilty in 1999 to four counts of wire fraud, two counts of computer fraud, and one count of illegally intercepting a wire communication. U.S. district judge Mariana Pfaelzer sentenced Mitnick to 46 months in federal prison plus 22 months for violating the terms of his 1989 supervised release sentence for computer fraud. He admitted to violating the terms of supervised release by hacking into Pacific Bell voicemail and other systems and to associating with known computer hackers, in this case co-defendant Lewis De Payne.<ref name="sciencedirect.com">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, but it was not used as evidence because he pleaded guilty before going to trial.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Mitnick served five years in prison—four-and-a-half years' pre-trial and eight months in solitary confinement, because, according to Mitnick, law enforcement officials convinced a judge that he had the ability to "start a nuclear war by whistling into a pay phone",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> implying that law enforcement told the judge that he could somehow dial into the NORAD modem via a payphone from prison and communicate with the modem by whistling to launch nuclear missiles.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, a number of media outlets reported on the unavailability of kosher meals at the prison where he was incarcerated.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Mitnick was released from prison on January 21, 2000. During his supervised release period, which ended on January 21, 2003, he was initially forbidden to use any communications technology other than a landline telephone.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Under the plea deal, Mitnick was also prohibited from profiting from films or books based on his criminal activity for seven years, under a variation of the Son of Sam law.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In December 2001, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) judge ruled that Mitnick was sufficiently rehabilitated to possess a federally issued amateur radio license.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Controversy

Mitnick's criminal activities, arrest, and trial, along with the associated journalism, were all controversial.<ref name="kroll" /> Though Mitnick was convicted of copying software unlawfully,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> his supporters argue that his punishment was excessive and that many of the charges against him were fraudulent<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and not based on actual losses.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

John Markoff and Tsutomu Shimomura, who had both been part of the pursuit of Mitnick, wrote the book Takedown about Mitnick's capture.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The case against Mitnick tested the new laws that had been enacted for dealing with computer crime and it raised public awareness of security involving networked computers. The controversy remains and the Mitnick story is often cited today as an example of the influence of news media on law enforcement personnel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Consulting

After his release in 2000, Mitnick became a paid security consultant, public speaker, and author. He carried out security consulting for, performed penetration testing services, and taught social engineering classes to companies and government agencies. He ran Mitnick Security Consulting LLC, a computer security consultancy and was part owner of KnowBe4, provider of an integrated platform for security awareness training and simulated phishing testing,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> as well as an active advisory board member at Zimperium,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a firm that develops a mobile intrusion prevention system.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He resided in Las Vegas, Nevada.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Death

Mitnick died from pancreatic cancer on July 16, 2023, at the age of 59 at a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hospital.<ref name="nyt" /> At the time of his death, he was married and his wife, Kimberley Mitnick (age 36), was pregnant with their first child, a son.<ref name="WaPoObit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Media

File:Lamo-Mitnick-Poulsen.png

Hacker Adrian Lamo (arrested 2003), Kevin Mitnick, and reformed hacker Kevin Poulsen (released from prison 1996) (photo Template:C. 2001)

In 2000, Skeet Ulrich and Russell Wong portrayed Mitnick and Tsutomu Shimomura, respectively, in the movie Track Down (known as Takedown outside the US), which was based on the book Takedown by John Markoff and Shimomura. The DVD was released in September 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Mitnick also appeared in Werner Herzog's documentary Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (2016).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Books

Written by Mitnick

Mitnick is the co-author, with William L. Simon and Robert Vamosi, of four books, three on computer security and an autobiography:

• (2002) The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• (2005) The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders & Deceivers<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• (2011) Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker<ref name="ghostinwiresmya00mitn_0">Template:Cite book</ref>
• (2017) The Art of Invisibility<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Authorized by Mitnick

• (1996) The Fugitive Game: Online with Kevin Mitnick, Jonathan Littman<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Kevin Poulsen
• List of cybercriminals
• "My kung fu is stronger than yours"
• The Secret History of Hacking

Bibliography

Movies and TV Series

• Template:IMDb title
• Template:IMDb title (cameo as himself)

Books

• Kevin Mitnick with Robert Vamosi, The Art of Invisibility, 2017, Hardback Template:ISBN
• Kevin Mitnick and William L. Simon, Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker, 2011, Hardback Template:ISBN
• Kevin Mitnick and William L. Simon, The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind The Exploits Of Hackers, Intruders, And Deceivers, 2005, Hardback Template:ISBN
• Kevin Mitnick, The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security, 2002, Paperback Template:ISBN
• Jeff Goodell, The Cyberthief and the Samurai: The True Story of Kevin Mitnick-And the Man Who Hunted Him Down, 1996, Template:ISBN
• Tsutomu Shimomura, Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw-By the Man Who Did It, 1996, Template:ISBN
• Jonathan Littman, The Fugitive Game: Online with Kevin Mitnick, 1996, Template:ISBN
• Katie Hafner and John Markoff, CYBERPUNK – Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, 1995, Template:ISBN

Articles

• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:Triangulation