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thewayneKevin passed from pancreatic cancer, aged 59.
He started young and was more the embodiment of the classic hacker: an explorer. He messed with other people's computers to see what they could do. One amazing exploit he pulled off was to get Pacific Bell to deliver a multi-million dollar switchboard to a manhole cover. In the middle of the night. He didn't do his hacks for money, just to learn things.
He was a master at social engineering, figuring out how to get people to do what he wanted them to do. I've read a couple of his books, and he was one bright dude.
He was caught, and IN COURT he acknowledged the cleverness and skill of the guy who caught him! He spent time in jail and prison, and after release became a white hat and spent the rest of his days as a security consultant, helping companies strengthen their defenses against hackers.
I'm not saying Kevin was an angel in his black hat days. But compared to today's hackers, he wasn't destructive nor extortionate. Things were very different back then.
He is survived by his wife and their unborn child.
https://www.engadget.com/kevin-mitnick-formerly-the-worlds-most-wanted-hacker-has-passed-away-084912966.html
https://news.slashdot.org/story/23/07/20/031216/kevin-mitnick-hacker-who-once-eluded-authorities-is-dead-at-59
Kevin had a very interesting and unique business card when he entered his consultancy phase, had I known about it when I was in Vegas last week I would have gone and bought a couple.
https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/kevin-mitnicks-famous-lockpick-business-card
He started young and was more the embodiment of the classic hacker: an explorer. He messed with other people's computers to see what they could do. One amazing exploit he pulled off was to get Pacific Bell to deliver a multi-million dollar switchboard to a manhole cover. In the middle of the night. He didn't do his hacks for money, just to learn things.
He was a master at social engineering, figuring out how to get people to do what he wanted them to do. I've read a couple of his books, and he was one bright dude.
He was caught, and IN COURT he acknowledged the cleverness and skill of the guy who caught him! He spent time in jail and prison, and after release became a white hat and spent the rest of his days as a security consultant, helping companies strengthen their defenses against hackers.
I'm not saying Kevin was an angel in his black hat days. But compared to today's hackers, he wasn't destructive nor extortionate. Things were very different back then.
He is survived by his wife and their unborn child.
https://www.engadget.com/kevin-mitnick-formerly-the-worlds-most-wanted-hacker-has-passed-away-084912966.html
https://news.slashdot.org/story/23/07/20/031216/kevin-mitnick-hacker-who-once-eluded-authorities-is-dead-at-59
Kevin had a very interesting and unique business card when he entered his consultancy phase, had I known about it when I was in Vegas last week I would have gone and bought a couple.
https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/kevin-mitnicks-famous-lockpick-business-card
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Date: 2023-07-21 03:58 am (UTC)Fuck cancer.
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Date: 2023-07-21 04:00 am (UTC)My dad and two friends of mine were all taken by pancreatic. Definitely Fuck Cancer. I hope your dad's treatments are going okay, meant to ask you about it over the weekend.
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Date: 2023-07-21 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-21 09:23 pm (UTC)I was surprised that he was only two years younger than I! I thought he was quite a bit younger.
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Date: 2023-07-22 10:15 am (UTC)Hugs, Jon