from Hacker News

Kevin Mitnick has died

by thirtyseven on 7/19/23, 11:53 PM with 613 comments

  • by neonate on 7/20/23, 5:43 PM

  • by josh2600 on 7/20/23, 12:24 AM

    Mitnick was a hacker hero of mine in my youth. I think I’ve understood his role as jester prior to conviction less as I’ve grown older, but there’s something about the boyhood charm of being so divorced from the potential consequences of one’s actions that is almost unique.

    Mitnick had so many stories that entranced the people around him. I heard one second hand of Mitnick dealing with a bank who had early voice verification software. Upon meeting the CEO he gave the executive his card and departed for the evening. Arriving back at his hotel, he called the CEO and asked him to read his phone number to him. The phone number contained all ten digits which Mitnick had neatly tape recorded so as to make the CEO’s voice reproducible. He then proceeded to use the bank’s vocal banking system to transfer $1 from the CEO’s account to his as the authentication mechanism was reading out your own account number in your voice.

    When Mitnick arrived back in the board room the architect of the voice verification system was crestfallen and the bank CEO delivered a check on a silver platter.

    Now how much of that tale is embellished I will never know as it was second hand, but that was the kind of whimsy Mitnick brought to our world.

    Rest in Power.

  • by ChuckMcM on 7/20/23, 1:56 AM

    I was not aware he was ill. Always sad to hear people that are taken by cancer.

    I didn't know Kevin, but am friends with Tsutomu Shimomura who worked with authorities to get him arrested. Tsutomu worked with me a bit when I was at Sun trying to get a cryptographically secure subsystem into the base system specification. It was fun to listen to his side of this story.

    The 80's was a really weird time for computer enthusiasts, and it was the period of time when what was then considered the "hacker" community schismed into what today we might call "white hat" vs "black hat" hackers.

    As a person who considered themselves to be part of that community I was personally offended by how the story of Kevin painted everyone who thought of themselves as a "hacker" as a criminal. It made for good story telling to make these folks "pirate" or perhaps more accurately "privateer" types in their swashbuckling ways of sticking it to the man. People would say, "Exposing security holes is like solving puzzles (which is fun) and important because if I don't do it, well somebody 'bad' will." And while I'm here, why not make it hurt for them a little bit to incentivize them to fix this problem quickly!"

    I didn't disagree with the importance of pointing out security problems, but the flamboyant way it was done scared the crap out of people who were both clueless and in a position to do stupid things. As a result we got the CFAA and the DMCA which are both some of the most ridiculous pieces of legislation after the so called "patriot" act.

    The damage that did to curious people growing up lost the US a significant fraction of their upcoming "innovation" talent. While not diminishing the folks who leaned in to the illegality of it.

  • by imperialdrive on 7/20/23, 12:38 AM

    Storytime: He randomly came over for dinner while cruising around LA with a friend of a friend, aaages ago... asked if I had a disposable tablecloth, luckily yes. Orders like 10 entrees/appetizers/desserts for delivery for just the 3 of us. Over a few hours picking at food, drinking case of beer etc., the entire table was covered in tech gibberish, diagrams, code etc. Really wish I saved that, but at the time I was like "who IS this guy?" and it was a disgusting mess. I do recall appreciating that level of openness and bonding, and have never had such an experience with anyone else like that in the industry since then. RIP

  • by frellus on 7/20/23, 12:57 AM

    Wow. My first encounter with Kevin Mitnick was a random one.. joining one of my school's IRC channels one day there was there guy on it who was bragging about how he had broken into our central AIX server, would read the admins' e-mail all the time and for every hole they plugged he would just find another one.

    I was just a university Freshman just starting my CS classes, and seeing this discussion, it was like I had entered some underground revolutionary meeting. It opened my eyes to mischief and testing the boundaries of systems and order where this guy who was on IRC as root@system was just calmly saying how the technical universe I was just learning about was controllable in ways I had no clue about.

    I never followed the case after he was prosecuted, and I didn't go down the hacker route in my career, but it was a life-changing moment for me to see this outsider live out "War Games" in real life.

    RIP, root. Your crimes and mischief certainly didn't define you, especially as you went down the ethical hacker path (the first?). Pancreatic cancer is a horrible way to go, I am sorry to see this story today and condolences to his family and friends.

  • by mindcrime on 7/20/23, 12:36 AM

    Oh man, oh man. This is heart-breaking. Even though I never met Kevin IRL, he was always something of a.. well, maybe not a "role model" exactly, but certainly an inspiring character in many regards. Some of my earliest forays into the world of phone phreaking and related activities were inspired by the stories I read about Mitnick and his crew out in LA, in Markoff and Haffner's book Cyberpunk. For a while me and some of the guys I ran with would use the word "Kevin" as a sort of code-word for this stuff to avoid telling our parents any more than necessary about what we were doing

    "Where are you going to night boys?"

    "Oh, we're going to hang out with Kevin."

    (this meant a night of trashing telco dumpsters, fucking around with payphones, and various other dubious activities)

    "Oh, OK. Well, be careful."

    That sort of thing.

    Wow. Never saw this coming. I didn't even know he'd been ill.

    Anyway... RIP, Mr. Mitnick. May there be clueless operators to social engineer, on "the other side".

  • by throwaway88008 on 7/20/23, 12:44 AM

    The post mentions Dutchman Stu Sjouwerman as a close friend. Kevin was partnered with Stu in the security company KnowBe4.

    Stu is a dedicated Scientologist, and has donated millions and millions of dollars to that corrupt organization. I know because I served in the Scientology Sea Org and knew Stu when he was on “OTVII”. This was before KnowBe4, but he was still something of a big donator. He really hit it big with KnowBe4 and became one of the few whales still funneling massive amounts to the church.

    I found out about the connection between Stu and Kevin while I was working as a developer for a tech company. One day we started getting those security tips and tricks emails, white labeled so they looked like they came from our own AppSec team. At the end of the emails it ended with the line “the price of freedom is constant alertness, constant willingness to fight back”. A direct quote from L Ron Hubbard and one Scientologists (and former Scientologists like me) know well. After digging deeper I found out they were coming from KnowBe4 and saw Kevin listed on the site as being a partner.

    Business relationship aside, after reading Ghost, you get the sense that Kevin would not and could not stop hacking. Maybe he matured and that urge dulled but I always wondered if he ever did some covert snooping into what Stu was up to with Scientology. The Sea Org computer and communication systems are ancient (they still use pagers for some things!). It would have been a blast for someone like him to compromise their systems. And they are right there in Clearwater down the road from KnowBe4 headquarters…

    Posting with throwaway because I ain’t tryna win a covert Scientology harassment and stalking op and have my family disown me which happens to virtually every former member who speaks out publicly.

  • by ecohen16 on 7/20/23, 1:16 AM

    When Kevin first found out he had Cancer, the doctors gave him "weeks". But you know Kevin -- he refused to accept his fate and found the top doctors in the world, tried experimental procedures and was able to get himself all the way into remission just 11 months later. It was incredibly inspiring, we all thought he had yet again beaten the system. It's tragic how the last 10 weeks played out, he fought all the way until the end. He's was a legend who paved the way for millions in the cybersecurity space. We will miss him.

  • by jboy55 on 7/20/23, 2:13 AM

    My parents vaguely remembered who Kevin Mitnick was when I gave my father my copy of 'Ghost in the Wires' to read.

    I told him, this was the 'hacker' of the 80s, read how he managed to 'hack' all these places. My father replied, "I'm pretty sure I won't understand anything he would do". Me, "Just give it a chance, you'll be surprised"

    When he gave the book back, I asked my father if anything Kevin did my father wouldn't have understood. My father said, "I understood everything he did". I asked, "Now, when you get a call from someone you don't know claiming to be an authority figure, what do you do?". Father: "Hang up"

  • by hedgehog on 7/20/23, 4:58 AM

    It's funny, though I didn't really know him I did have two chance interactions 15 or so years back that are in a way core lessons for me about business.

    Back when he started doing consulting I ended up spending some hours on the phone with him over a week or so as an evenings/weekends side project (I had a more than full time job too). He seemed like a nice enough dude, basically a middle aged guy trying to put his life back together, and he was understandably not up to speed on web app security due to his recent stint in prison. I don't think that business ever panned out but he eventually pivoted and built a multi-billion dollar company around the concept he was known for (social engineering).

    The second is embedded in his somewhat famous lock pick business card. It turns out those cards are a direct copy of a friend's card, conceived by me, designed by a second friend, and inspired by a third friend who'd discovered the shop that did etched steel cards. Kevin's card traded in usability by shortening the tools to make more space for contact information. Regardless, his ability to capture the spotlight helped ensure his version is by far the best known.

    RIP.

  • by faeriechangling on 7/20/23, 1:17 AM

    Mitnick did remind myself as a preteen, even if it never seems he quite outgrew his own preteen antics. He was a gutsy guy who made life more rich and interesting in his own way. He never seemed to bend to the system’s will long after many of us so called anti-authoritarians would have thrown in the towel.

    When I read his books I alternated between fascination, revulsion, admiration, and shock. Mitnick above all wasn’t boring and I think “not boring” doesn’t get enough credit in the measure of a man.

  • by gkoberger on 7/20/23, 12:04 AM

    Wow. He was only 59.

    I've always loved his lockpicking business card: https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/kevin-mitnicks-famous-lockpi...

    While I assume this is real, part of me does feel like a combination of how young he is and who is is leads me to be slightly skeptical. Assuming it's real, hopefully he would have appreciated the skepticism.

  • by mabbo on 7/20/23, 1:09 AM

    > Donations can be made in Kevin's memory to The National Pancreas Foundation https://pancreasfoundation.org/ or The Equal Justice Initiative https://eji.org/

    > These are two causes of great importance to Kimberley and Kevin; both organizations put the majority of donated funds to work in the communities they serve.

    If Kevin inspired you, perhaps a donation in his name would be a nice gesture.

  • by serf on 7/20/23, 12:01 AM

    RIP. I still have my FREE KEVIN sticker on an old freezer.

    One of my fond memories with my now-dead mother was going to see him during a prison transfer in Los Angeles and yelling outside the place until he waved to us and the rest of the crowd through a window.

  • by jmbwell on 7/20/23, 1:26 AM

    Oh my god. I was on the phone with him not that long ago discussing a red team project. I had no idea what was going on.

    He was always generous and kind yet professional, despite us kind of fanning out. He had the ease of someone who knew what they were doing and didn’t feel they had anything to prove, which of course he didn’t.

    I was looking forward to working with him more. I hate how you never know how a thing’s going to go.

    Here’s to the innumerable things about modern connected society that are the way they are, whether indirectly or directly, because of Kevin Mitnick.

  • by r00f on 7/20/23, 4:22 PM

    I got into IT because of him mainly. When I was 12, where I was growing up I was the only one who knew what a computer is. I remember reading his story somewhere, then I got to my mom's computer at her office and read all I could find about his story.

    I wrote "Free Kevin Mitnick!" with a black marker on my tshirt and was walking around my town proudly wearing it. Nobody understood anything about it but it made me feel like involved into some secret society.

    Next year I convinced parents to pay for me learning QBasic (the only computer course in my town back then), and 3 years later I got into university on an Information Security specialization. Some of my friends say that I was the reason why they got into IT. Well, I guess we all owe that to Kevin.

    I talked to him in person once at a conference and was happy like a little puppy, but being socially awkward as I am I didn't tell him that he is my childhood hero. I hope now when he has trandcended to the cloud, he has a bird's eye view on our realm and can see all the positive impact that he had had on my life and lives of people I've influenced...

    The very brightest memories

  • by henrik_w on 7/20/23, 1:17 PM

    I really enjoyed reading his book Ghost in the Wires. It is the story of Mitnick’s hacking career, from the start in his teens, through becoming the FBI’s most wanted hacker, to spending years in jail before finally being released. It’s a fascinating book that at times reads like a thriller. One of the things that struck me when reading it was how often he used social engineering to gain access to systems.

    I wrote more about it here:

    https://henrikwarne.com/2015/12/27/social-engineering-from-k...

  • by giantg2 on 7/20/23, 12:52 AM

    If you're looking for other stories, The Art of Deception (Mitnick specific) and The Art of Intrusion (not all Mitnick) have a ton.

  • by Minor49er on 7/20/23, 12:10 AM

    He's social engineering his way through the pearly gates now. Rest in peace, Kevin

  • by seanhandley on 7/20/23, 12:27 PM

    I met Kevin at a conference in Manchester where he cloned my HID access card and made an amazing demo of how easily this can get a company's workstations compromised with keyloggers. It was like watching a magician - he was a very skilled, funny, intelligent man with a wealth of knowledge. He gave me his business card (which is also a lock-picking kit) and I will treasure it.

    Thanks for all you taught us Kevin, and thanks for being a beacon of curiosity and exploration.

  • by david_shaw on 7/20/23, 1:32 AM

    For those looking for an official source outside of the obituary: Dave Kennedy (a longtime infosec pro and, in my opinion, a trusted source) confirmed in a tweet: https://nitter.net/HackingDave/status/1681838080355966976

    Although I haven't seen an "official" statement, I believe that this news is legitimate.

    RIP Kevin.

  • by trashcanman on 7/20/23, 1:14 AM

    Wow didn’t see that coming. I met him at a HOPE conference with Steve Wozniak. Followed him for years from hacker zine texts distributed on CDs back in the day. Wow that’s really sad what a fun guy he was. His social engineering book was pretty interesting. That OKI phone story was so fascinating I bought a couple to see if I could do it too, although by then 900MHz was phased out. This guy made a difference in my life how very strange

  • by b212 on 7/20/23, 1:16 AM

    Just woke up my wife with a loud sigh. I remember all my childhood friends pretending to be Zidane or Figo or Rivaldo. I always wanted to be Mitnick. Sucked at soccer but never stopped hacking. Holy f, he was so young. Out of all people I really hoped to meet him one day. The rockstar of my childhood. What a shitty day.

  • by __warlord__ on 7/20/23, 12:15 AM

    I'm a bit "on the younger generation" but I remember the movie based on his story: "Take Down" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159784/.

    To this day I know the difference between a cracker and a hacker :)

    RIP.

  • by garfieldnate on 7/20/23, 3:22 AM

    Having read and loved Ghost in the Wires, I felt a special bond with Kevin. I loved his antics combined with his fearless exploration of how everything around him works. I'm really sad reading of his death today. He was far too young. My favorite story from the book is how he set up a computer to tail the logs of cell towers in his area for phone numbers matching the FBI agents assigned to his case so he would be alerted when they were on to him. Wow, that's bold! But also, reading that I realized how our society had allowed ourselves to be surrounded by tracking machines that the government could use to find us at any time, and man it was beautiful to see it turned back on them.

  • by wanderingmoose on 7/20/23, 4:02 PM

    There was something I always wanted to ask him:

    He was so meticulous is setting up new identities and moving to random places around the country to avoid the authorities. But would then log back into his previously compromised systems in a way that would expose his current geographic location. It always seemed like such a glaring hole in his otherwise well thought out personal opsec. I'm sure the story was more complicated than what appeared in the press at the time, or in the 2600 knock-off zines that were going around at the time, or in his books. It always confused me. I could never figure out if that was an oversight, or he just wasn't aware he was being watched.

    I think I share a similar pendulum swinging feelings about km as other folks here, especially as his story unfolded across many different phases of my life: from adulation as a teen, to realizing that he was just another a*hole who would lie to your face to get what they want. Recently it has swung waaay back the other way -- especially as more of our access to customer service for critical aspects of our lives get buried behind obstructionist systems -- to understanding that we always need people who can tear any system apart.

    As an addendum...I think the term hacker should be handed to the sys admin that started was instrumental in getting km located by (If my foggy mind remembers correcly) by emailing logs or log stats to himself and noticing that size was shrinking so someone was deleting them -- that blew my mind at the time.

    He will be missed.

  • by r3vo on 7/20/23, 1:26 AM

    Worth noting that Wikipedia at the time of this post is refusing to acknowledge his death, citing poor sources.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kevin_Mitnick&act...

    Hope he is alive and well. May he rest in peace if not

  • by technick on 7/20/23, 3:24 AM

    Kevin is partially the reason I decided to work in information security. I remember reading his book, art of deception, and it gave a name to the skill I had practiced most of the childhood, social engineering. Later on in life I got to meet him and spent the first at least 2 hours of time in shock n awe. Afterwards, he was great to talk with and offered me his number if I ever needed another set of ears. Sadly I haven't talked with him since the pandemic, but he will forever be remembered.

    Hopefully our paths will cross again.

  • by kykeonaut on 7/20/23, 1:18 AM

    I first learned about Mitnick on a network security course where we had to recreate the now iconic TCP spoofing attack he employed against Shimomura's X-Terminal [0].

    He was definitely a legend.

    [0] http://wiki.cas.mcmaster.ca/index.php/The_Mitnick_attack#The...

  • by bluedays on 7/20/23, 3:45 AM

    I talked to Mitnick once on the phone. I was on a partyline back in the AIM days and a hacker friend of mine called him up. Kevin seemed very frustrated that he kept calling him. I was just dumbfounded I was actually on the phone with Kevin Mitnick so I didn't say anything. Was shocked and saddened to see this. Sorry about that night, Kevin. Rest in peace.

  • by heystefan on 7/20/23, 12:04 AM

    RIP to the legend.

    Remember when Yahoo! was defaced with a "FREE KEVIN" message? Good times.

  • by Zobat on 7/20/23, 9:05 AM

    Rarely has "Hacker News" been a more appropriate page name.

    RIP Kevin.

  • by megraf on 7/20/23, 3:08 PM

    I snuck into a banking conference in Miami Florida to meet Kevin. I forged my badge, using the previous years design as inspiration. I got in, and met him, and gave him my badge.

    He said "that's really cool" and signed a copy of Ghost in the Wires for me.

    Really incredible guy. Rest in peace my friend.

  • by anonu on 7/20/23, 1:01 AM

    Kevin came to speak at CMU in the University Center. Maybe around 2003/2004. I recall it was standing room only. For me, it was like seeing your favorite action hero in real life. Yes he was convicted of some crimes, but he showed you could be redeemed and continue to live a good, fulfilling life educating others what not to do. RIP

  • by noufalibrahim on 7/20/23, 7:29 AM

    The Cyberthief and the Samurai (along with a few other books like Snow Crash, Hackers, the Cuckoos egg etc.) were books that made a big impact on me earlier in my life. It wasn't as much about facts as much as about building a virtual map of the digital world in my head. This was before I had actual access to a fast internet connection.

    I had a printout of the MIT guide to lock picking and used to try out stuff with some hand crafted "tools". I'd forgotten about Mitnick and later (probably via. Slashdot) came across his site again and saw this https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/kevin-mitnicks-famous-lockpi... which suddenly brought back the same image I had formed about him. Playful to the extent of not caring, irreverent, and curious.

    Rest in Peace.

  • by placesalt on 7/20/23, 12:44 AM

    Sad to see. Pancreatic cancer is one of the scary ones, since there are so few symptoms before you hit stage 4.

    For those who haven't seen it, Freedom Downtime is a movie by the 2600 gang which is mostly about Mitnick's imprisonment, and the whole Free Kevin movement.

    (I wonder who wrote the obituary, it's especially wide-ranging, and poetic in parts.)

  • by wayeq on 7/20/23, 1:58 AM

    I'm still upset I fell for Markoff and Shimomura's self serving narrative about Mitnick in the 90's.

  • by kaishiro on 7/20/23, 12:48 AM

    Terrible news, especially at that age. I remember reading "The Art of Deception" in college.

    Just out of curiosity, does anyone have anything else corroborating this? Everywhere seems to be sharing the same dignitymemorial.com link.

  • by elif on 7/20/23, 12:40 AM

    I can't say enough about how influential Kevin has been in every decade, continually staying at the head of the snake of hacking. I am so lucky not just for how he inspired me in my youth, but how he relit the fire of security paranoia in the last decade when I was fortunate to work for an organization he hacked (by contract).

    All software engineers are now more vulnerable with Kevin gone. Stay paranoid friends, now more than ever.

  • by manca on 7/20/23, 4:57 AM

    I will always remember when the "Takedown" movie came out. I loved the original "Hackers" and couldn't wait for "Hackers 2" which was Takedown.

    I had learned about Mitnick few years prior to the movie and was fascinated by his life story and what he had done up to that point (including his "takedown" by the FBI). It's an understatement to say that his work, character and some sort of positive social manipulation put a great influence on my upbringing and later my professional career. Back then I enjoyed playing pranks with my friends and "hacking" them with all sorts of trojans and ejecting their CD roms :)

    I am very sad to hear that he's gone. RIP Legend.

  • by PettingRabbits on 7/20/23, 7:44 PM

    Pancreatic cancer really sucks. A friend of mine passed away from it a few months ago at the ripe old age of 25. She was first diagnosed with it at 20, beat it, and then nearly three years later it came back at stage 4. Like Kevin she also underwent a few different experimental treatments, the first of which worked remarkably well. (Until it didn't, which is typical of these treatments) A cure or effective treatment feels so close, and I'm sure if one comes soon I'll be having a bittersweet celebration.

    I never did get to meet Kevin, but it's clear that I missed out on an amazing person. RIP Mr Mitnick.

  • by h2odragon on 7/19/23, 11:58 PM

    Like the Gerber baby, the symbol people recognized didn't necessarily have that much to do with the actual person.

    RIP dude.

  • by hoistbypetard on 7/20/23, 12:13 AM

    RIP. I can't appropriately explain to anyone who wasn't around for it just how much he influenced my thinking from the late 80s to late 90s.

  • by 29athrowaway on 7/20/23, 12:23 AM

    Watch "Freedom downtime".

    There they make it clear that the New York Times columnist and book author John Markoff made up absolutely everything.

    The movie "Track Down" (US) / "Takedown" is also full of BS.

  • by geocrasher on 7/20/23, 1:14 AM

    My first thought, genuinely, was 'This is zero cool'

    An icon for many of us here. I feel worse for his mate and unborn child. Losing a mate is very, very, hard. Going through that myself...

  • by zsiddique on 7/20/23, 12:21 AM

    I remember reading Kevin Mitnick books in the early 2000s and it really open my eyes about social engineering and how hacking is more than just cracking a code. Help me become a better DevOps and Software Engineer.

  • by thebeardisred on 7/20/23, 12:07 AM

    I'n guessing the hug of death will be forthcoming for this site: http://web.archive.org/web/20230719235437/https://www.dignit...

  • by ianpenney on 7/20/23, 6:19 AM

    The hacker community needs a word akin to “Silent Key” - in the ham radio community - that means a contributor that’s passed on.

    Never met the guy but you’re damn right I know who he is. And I come from the middle of nowhere.

  • by freedomben on 7/20/23, 1:33 AM

    Sad news. His biography/story "Ghost in the Wires" is one of the most amazing books I've ever read. I highly recommend it. The audiobook is read by Ray Porter and is gold. I'll be giving it a re-listen.

    His books "The Art of {Deception,Invisibility,Intrusion}" are absolute bangers for most of the people here. Can't recommend enough

  • by deepfield67 on 7/20/23, 5:11 AM

    This is really sad. I can't overstate the impact Kevin had on my life. The world is suddenly less interesting and less secure and my heart goes out to family and friends. Rest in peace, Kevin.

  • by rglover on 7/20/23, 12:02 AM

    Aw this is a bummer. RIP. I'll never forget reading The Art of Deception in high school.

  • by iJohnDoe on 7/20/23, 2:32 AM

    This is triggering real crying and emotional breakdown. Mitnick was a friend I never had. An older brother or cool guy that sparked inspiration. Such a strange feeling to be so sad about a person I never met. Like losing a friend. He had such an influence on my life. Hits close to home.

    Thanks Kevin. RIP.

  • by throwaway892238 on 7/20/23, 3:43 AM

    When I was 16 years old, I started a 2600 meeting at a local mall food court. We joined in the 'Free Mitnick' movement, and would go around handing out flyers, explaining the implications of his case, peppering the place with stickers, putting them in copies of 2600 in Barnes & Noble and Borders. His case was an inspiration to a budding little hacker and taught me to become more idealistic and push for legal reforms and the rights of people who were punished far more than they deserved. Later in life I got to meet him at hacker conventions, and he was a super nice guy. I even got one of his lock-pick-set business cards! I know he's somewhat of a controversial figure, but he was also inspirational.

  • by wordsarelies on 7/20/23, 5:15 AM

    He was childlike in his pranksterism. He never seemed to lose his wonder or his ability to make you feel like a jackass.

    The man who could whistle the nuclear codes has passed away. And now maybe I can strike the social engineering village before the sun comes up.

  • by blindriver on 7/20/23, 2:34 AM

    Wow, this is seriously upsetting. The fact that so many people are dying of pancreatic cancer is very, very scary to me, and it's so many young people at this point.

  • by chrisrickard on 7/20/23, 1:02 PM

    When I wad 13 I printed out “FREE KEVIN” stickers and stuck them all over the locker room of my school. …kind of a weird thing to do in Australia back then.

  • by whynotkeithberg on 7/20/23, 3:22 PM

    I read his book when I was younger... And at DEFCON 19 I got selected to get paired with a celebrity hacker in the 10,000 cent hacker pyramid. I ended up getting paired with Kevin Mitnick & we played against Dan Kaminsky. It was a really cool experience & even though Kaminsky went on to win... It was a ton of fun and Kevin was a really cool guy.

    I hope his family is doing well.

  • by gt565k on 7/20/23, 3:40 PM

    May he rest in peace.

    I first heard of Kevin Mitnick in the early 2000's when I was watching "The Broken" with Kevin Rose and he interviewed Mitnick in one of the episodes.

    I was 14-15 years old at the time! Wow!

    Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcWByfwkf4k

  • by atlanta90210 on 7/20/23, 12:57 PM

    https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/kevin-mitnicks-famous-lockpi...

    A link to his famous business card which doubled as a lock pick kit. Rip Kevin.

  • by glitchc on 7/20/23, 12:28 AM

    It's a lovely obituary. God speed.

  • by biglyburrito on 7/20/23, 1:32 AM

  • by xwdv on 7/20/23, 1:26 AM

    Fuck man, this hit me hard and unexpected. Ghost in the Wires was one of my favorite books. Was fun to read about a true hacker, definitely inspired me. He was too young.

    Can’t believe there is no black banner. This is hackernews.

  • by m4jor on 7/20/23, 12:03 AM

    Is this real?

  • by tern on 7/20/23, 2:05 AM

    "FREE KEVIN MITNICK, NOW" https://youtu.be/xkKa-jvh4Ik (@1:55)

    Does anyone know where this samples comes from?

  • by motbus3 on 7/20/23, 2:26 PM

    Mitnick was a warrior battling giant corps alone. I believe he did that just because he could only, but it does not take the merit of one guy being able to outweight the whole industry.

  • by bootcat on 7/20/23, 12:10 AM

    RIP - He was a role model to upcoming social engineering folks,

  • by thallavajhula on 7/20/23, 4:46 AM

    OMG! This is so sad. I read about Kevin a lot and read the book, "The Art of Deception" during my teen years and was fascinated by how interesting social engineering was. Once I got into college, I got busy and never followed him anymore. I recently read about him in some random article and then I read about him now. I opened HN to see the black band on top and was worried to know who it could be and turns out, it was Kevin.

  • by eddie_catflap on 7/20/23, 7:27 AM

    Ghost in the Wires is a laugh out loud read for me. I told him it should be a movie and he said there was a screenplay. Hope it sees the light of day.

  • by q-base on 7/20/23, 8:04 AM

    I will by no means say that I followed or knew him. But the name was familiar and I suddenly remembered who he was and that I had his book on my wishlist for christmas. Sorry to hear about the loss.

    I do like some of his approaches to life. There are some similarities between him and Richard Feynman.

    Who comes to mind if I would like to follow some still living people that has this rebellious, "joire de vivre" way of life?

  • by nimmen on 7/20/23, 9:43 AM

    Surely legend of the era. Remember some obscure court restrictions for him at the time, not quite sure they were real, or hoax, or urban legends...

  • by tankenmate on 7/20/23, 8:29 AM

    My first memory of Mitnick was a very early web viral 8bit sound file (ADPCM if memory serves) that was purported to be Mitnick (it turned out later to not be Mitnick); "I know sendmail technique. ...". I can still hear it in my head today. I got my start into infosec working as an admin at my university; trying to keep on top of students being naughty was a good introduction.

  • by alfanick on 7/20/23, 1:25 AM

    He made me. I remember back in my teen years reading interviews with him, I was back in phreaking scene. He was a hero. He is a hero. What a loss.

  • by glonq on 7/20/23, 6:53 PM

    Fuck cancer. I picked it up a couple months ago at the ripe age of 50, and spend my days getting nuked with chemo and rads now.

  • by chmod600 on 7/20/23, 1:57 AM

    I didn’t meet him, but to me he was a symbol of the freedom in a newly-created world. Sad that he passed away a few decades too soon.

  • by pnw on 7/20/23, 12:06 AM

    RIP Kevin. Too young to be gone. I only met him once but he was definitely one of a kind and his story inspired a lot of people.

  • by phone8675309 on 7/20/23, 12:10 AM

    Rest in peace, Kevin. I am so glad that a much younger me got to meet you one day at a conference. Best to your family.

  • by atum47 on 7/20/23, 1:25 AM

    Takedown was my favorite movie as a kid. It influenced me a lot. In Brazil is not common to have a bathtub in your bathroom, we used suicide showers (term that I recently learned on YouTube); anyway, the image of Mitnick hacking in the tube on his laptop resonated with me, I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

    May he rest in peace.

  • by dekhn on 7/20/23, 12:40 AM

    Reading how he did social engineering was a huge influence on me... basically, taught me how to interact with normies.

  • by yousifa on 7/20/23, 3:16 AM

    RIP legend. Not sure that I would be where I am today without Kevin being an inspiration and hero to me growing up.

  • by anta40 on 7/20/23, 2:58 AM

    RIP Kevin.

    Many many years ago, during undergraduate days, I used to study "Art of Deception", wanted to became a security hacker one day.

    Now my topic of interest has shifted. Nevertheless, that book still reminds me that human is still the weakest link in security chain. You don't have to be super smart in exploiting code.

  • by mottiden on 7/20/23, 12:34 AM

    Rest In Peace Kevin. You were the reason why I started programming. I loved reading your books when I was younger.

  • by anjel on 7/20/23, 12:30 AM

    >The real OG of hacking

    Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book and Kevin Mittnick taught me the noun form meaning of exploit. RIP

  • by grayhatter on 7/20/23, 1:12 AM

    Mitnick's legend (and his books) are definitely a big part of why I have a job I love.

    I was tempted to send a box of donuts as a gift... but instead I think I'll send the two dozen as a donation to the EJI instead.

    https://eji.org/

  • by dncosta on 7/20/23, 6:40 AM

    Just read about this.

    So many memories from way back, reading up on his story (and stories), reading his books, watching "Takedown" over and over again ...

    No matter how polarising he was, his influence in the field and in leading many young people to get into computers and turn that into a career is unquestionable, imho.

    RIP

  • by ineedasername on 7/20/23, 1:25 AM

    I missed meeting Kevin Mitnick at the infamous HOPE 2006 conference where he was set to speak, but he was waylaid by something or other and he landed in the hospital. His reputation was still a presence through those few days though, just a few short years after his release from prison.

  • by elchief on 7/20/23, 2:21 AM

    The internet is a safer but sadder place

    Read Ghost in the Wire as a young man and it inspired me to get into computers

    Rest in Peace, brother

  • by m3kw9 on 7/20/23, 12:18 AM

    The real OG of hacking

  • by aestetix on 7/20/23, 6:00 AM

    RIP Kevin. What a loss. That guy's court case basically defined the 90s for many of us.

  • by throwaway67743 on 7/20/23, 8:25 AM

    Is there an obit that isn't on a dumb site that blocks entire countries for no reason?

  • by bussiere on 7/20/23, 9:52 AM

    Fuck ...

    He was kind of role model for me, i was inspired by the way he saw the world, in everything he was able to see hole and flaw and how to exploit them. Where "normal" people just don't think about it.

    His stories and mischiefs will be missed for me.

  • by sgammon on 7/20/23, 3:56 AM

    for those of us who grew up without a father, as technologists, especially in the 90's and early 2000's, kevin mitnick was something of a guiding light.

    he gave us permission to explore the darker underbelly of technology and was emblematic of a freer (free as in freedom) time on the internet. yes, he was a convicted criminal, but he was also a complex character who loved to solve puzzles and his competitive nature ultimately drove his work.

    the famous story of the fbi showing up at his house and kevin saying, "no problem, I'll report to the fbi office tomorrow"... yeah, that didn't work, but he was the type to try and that was beautiful.

  • by SV_BubbleTime on 7/20/23, 12:10 AM

    I'll go in tomorrow and update our August KnowBe4 training deployment for August to be a couple of his modules. Our users won't know, and I guess he won't either, but cancer sucks and it'll make me happy to do it.

  • by cryptoz on 7/20/23, 2:55 AM

    Well I’m crying. Kevin was my hero for so many years growing up and inspired me to do nearly everything I’ve done. I met him at The Last HOPE so many years ago and I feel so privileged for that opportunity.

    RIP Kevin, we’ll miss you so much.

  • by major505 on 7/20/23, 2:19 PM

    Man, fuck cancer. He still was young, and his wife is pregnant. I remember as a kid reading about his exploits, and how much that influenced my carrer choice and interest in computers.

    Hope he can hack his way into heaven.

  • by riow on 7/20/23, 4:10 AM

  • by tazjin on 7/20/23, 10:15 AM

    Archive link for those in countries that this page doesn't allow access from: https://archive.is/13uNy

  • by yreg on 7/20/23, 3:29 AM

    mirror: https://web.archive.org/web/20230719235437/https://www.digni...

    Rip. I've read Art of Deception in high school and I think it had a lasting influence on me. It reads like a collection of interesting stories. I recomend that book to everyone, especially to people outside of tech.

  • by antegamisou on 7/20/23, 12:05 AM

    He was the person I associated the word hacker with, when I came across his name back in 2003 as a kid when I was searching for 'top hackers in the world'. (Google was functional back then...).

    RIP

  • by prmoustache on 7/20/23, 8:35 AM

    "He is survived by his brother-in-law, Ricky Barry and his wife Roxy"

    What a strange way to phrase it. Why don't they mention his sister first? Is it plain sexism or were they in bad terms?

  • by blondie9x on 7/20/23, 7:41 PM

    Feel bad for the unborn child that will have to be raised without a father because his parents decided selfishly to conceive him or her due to illness.

    Raising a child is more than genetics.

  • by captainkrtek on 7/20/23, 2:57 AM

    Rest in peace. Like many others here, Mitnick was an inspiration to me when I was younger, believe he truly embodied the hacker ethos. “Ghost in the wires” is a fantastic and fun read.

  • by paul7986 on 7/20/23, 2:46 PM

    He was expecting his first child at 59/60 which is awesome especially those 10 to 15 years younger or so who like to still also, yet he dies before his child was born. Heartbreaking!

    RIP

  • by slowhadoken on 7/20/23, 7:53 AM

    All my immediate family is very young so I always thought 50 was old. Then I lost a stepfather to cancer when he was in his 50’s. I couldn’t believe it, he was so young.

  • by marinhero on 7/20/23, 2:06 PM

    I never met him but his books and anecdotes fueled the mind of a young me. All I wanted was to be a hacker like him. Rest in peace Mr Mitnick. You’ll be missed.

  • by pjmq on 7/20/23, 7:52 AM

    Recently re-discovered him due to a Business Wars podcast episode on him. The dude deserves his own movie. Not a nice way to go but he'll surely be remembered.

  • by Lolaccount on 7/20/23, 9:03 AM

    RIP ... absolutely opened my eyes as a kid ... tonight, I'm going to dig out the old 30 threadbare paperback about hackers where I first learned of him.

  • by godzillabrennus on 7/20/23, 3:11 AM

    I met Kevin in Chicago when he was hired to speak at a bank event that a friend got me into. His presentation was world class. He was quite a guy. Rest in peace.

  • by 89vision on 7/20/23, 3:28 AM

    What a legend. I remember reading text files about his lore in my early days of exploring the web and being absolutely captivated by it all. Rest easy, Kevin

  • by DoesntMatter22 on 7/20/23, 12:21 AM

    Wow that's so unexpected. He's been an icon in the computing community for 30 years. He's gone way too soon. I didn't even know he was sick.

  • by ttrrooppeerr on 7/20/23, 8:23 AM

    A mentor and a beacon for many of us. Rest in peace.

  • by user3939382 on 7/20/23, 1:39 PM

    I have a lot of nostalgia for the old 80s/90s hacking counterculture which doesn't seem to really exist anymore.

    "FREE KEVIN" :'(

  • by kennyloginz on 7/20/23, 1:39 AM

    This guy was so dedicated, he got a job at the DMV. Kind of sad, it sounded like he was liked and got a long with his coworkers at that job.

  • by pelasaco on 7/20/23, 6:13 PM

    super influential in my life in the end of 90s. If you work in the security branch, and had to stay alert on Christmas, because hackers love to hacker while Christmas, he was the main responsible by this Tradition. Fuck how thrilled I was when I watched first time some video of his telnet hacking sessions, back in the days... Resist in Peace (RIP)

  • by bdn_ on 7/20/23, 4:28 AM

    Who knows where I would be today if not for Kevin's influence... Kevin was (and will continue to be!) a role model in many ways. RIP

  • by nemo44x on 7/20/23, 1:43 AM

    Kevin is free, now.

  • by rafale on 7/20/23, 12:11 AM

    A brillant man who, as a kid, inspired and motivate me by his cool exploits (even though I didn't end up pursuing cybersecurity).

  • by renewiltord on 7/20/23, 12:40 AM

    What in the world. That's really young to go. I really did not expect this guy, being just one generation away, to have died.

  • by mike503 on 7/22/23, 5:29 AM

    Just realized I mailed away my lock pick money a few weeks ago. Still haven't got anything yet.

  • by bubblematrix on 7/20/23, 12:53 PM

    Rest in Peace Kevin, I read your The Art of Human Hacking in 7th grade after learning about you from The Screen Savers TV show.

    Too young

  • by mitnk on 7/20/23, 11:01 AM

    R.i.P - My id was originated from his name..

  • by tmaly on 7/20/23, 12:19 AM

    Very sad that he did not see his first child.

  • by system2 on 7/20/23, 6:03 AM

    When I was a child I had a poster of him in my room. It is so sad to see the news here. He will always be remembered.

  • by kraig911 on 7/20/23, 2:06 AM

    He left us too soon. Does anyone else see a correlation of pancreatic cancer and our industry? It feels as if there's something about our profession. Steve Jobs, Randy Pausch, Now Mitnick? I've also had two coworkers who died of kidney/pancreatic cancer.

    Beyond that I remember reading about him in 2600 and my mind being blown. He definitely helped leave the world we live in better than when he found it.

  • by log101 on 7/20/23, 6:24 AM

    Ghost in the Wires has had a huge influence on me choosing a programming career. So sad, rest in peace.

  • by jijji on 7/20/23, 2:08 AM

    pour out some liquor for my homie

  • by egberts1 on 7/20/23, 3:36 AM

    Not sure if this is folklore but Kevin Mitnick installed a firewall for the White House.

  • by ChrisArchitect on 7/20/23, 1:00 AM

    Legend.

    A name of inspiration, igniting curiosity across ages. And of course, the only crime was curiosity.

    RIP

  • by embit on 7/20/23, 12:29 AM

    Just came here to say Resr In Peace Kevin. You will always be remembered.

  • by Simulacra on 7/20/23, 12:23 AM

    Oh My Gosh this is so sad !

  • by latenightcoding on 7/20/23, 12:21 AM

    A literal hacker news. RIP.

  • by 1024core on 7/20/23, 1:36 AM

    Damn! Didn't Steve Jobs also die from pancreatic cancer?

  • by brightball on 7/20/23, 1:41 AM

    An absolute legend! I have 2 of his books here at my house.

  • by bandyaboot on 7/20/23, 12:06 AM

    Dang, that’s a big loss. A pioneer in his own unique way.

  • by zirgs on 7/20/23, 4:14 PM

    From Wikipedia: "Mitnick also intercepted and stole computer passwords, altered computer networks, and broke into and read private emails." - what a nice guy he was.

  • by ryanmercer on 7/20/23, 2:46 PM

    That's sad. I imagine Crunch will be next.

  • by sgammon on 7/20/23, 3:42 AM

    Mitnick was a hero to me. Very sad to hear this.

  • by victorbjorklund on 7/20/23, 6:33 AM

    Oh no. He is a hero that taught so many people.

  • by toomuchtodo on 7/20/23, 12:08 AM

  • by asow92 on 7/20/23, 2:48 AM

    Ghost in the wires was a fantastic read. Rip

  • by hknmtt on 7/20/23, 7:50 AM

    Event after decades, I remember that name.

  • by swayvil on 7/20/23, 11:13 PM

    Ahhh fuckaduck. He's a superhero.

  • by andromaton on 7/20/23, 12:26 AM

    I think it's trolling. Single source.

  • by EMCymatics on 7/20/23, 3:25 AM

    RIP. The world lost a true talent today.

  • by theodric on 7/20/23, 9:35 AM

    I guess he's never getting put back then.

    RIP Kevin

  • by gumballindie on 7/20/23, 8:27 AM

    Hackers never die, they elevate. RIP.

  • by submeta on 7/20/23, 6:03 AM

    Taking a detour from the current thread, this sad news about Kevin Mitnick serves as a poignant reminder of the impermanence of life, but also of the value of vigilance. It's a note to all of us about the importance of our health. Remember, routine health checkups, especially as we age, can have a significant impact on our wellbeing.

    Cancer, if detected early, does not have to be a death sentence. In fact, many forms of cancer are treatable and even curable if caught in their initial stages. Our advancements in medical science and technology have indeed made it possible. Yet, they can only do so much if we, as individuals, do not take the responsibility of regularly visiting our doctors.

  • by IIAOPSW on 7/20/23, 12:41 AM

    Pardon my tasteless skepticism, but are we sure this isn't a social engineering trick of his yet?

  • by effingwewt on 7/20/23, 2:57 PM

    Rest in Peace.

    A hacker far before it was cool.

    A pioneer in so many ways.

    A hero as I was growing up.

    o7

  • by biguss on 7/20/23, 7:54 AM

    RIP Kev, you were quite a legend!

  • by newsclues on 7/20/23, 1:08 AM

    Free Kevin.

  • by pvaldes on 7/20/23, 7:32 AM

    Gone too young.

    Pancreatic cancer is terrible. Hacking the disease with RNA would be the better homage possible to Mitnick. Lets pray for the vaccine coming soon.

    https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/mrna-va...

  • by eddieroger on 7/20/23, 12:58 AM

    May his memory be a blessing.

  • by photoGrant on 7/20/23, 12:07 AM

    Miserable. Godspeed, Kevin.

  • by omgmajk on 7/20/23, 3:58 PM

    This hit hard, free Kev!

  • by booleandilemma on 7/20/23, 4:15 AM

    Rest in peace, Kevin.

  • by mgdev on 7/20/23, 1:32 AM

    There goes my hero.

  • by ineedasername on 7/20/23, 12:49 AM

    damn, fuck cancer

  • by metalloid on 7/20/23, 6:44 PM

    A true legend.

  • by ironfootnz on 7/20/23, 12:37 AM

    RIP my friend.

  • by rajc111 on 7/20/23, 9:12 AM

    RIP

  • by tunnuz on 7/20/23, 8:08 AM

    RIP.

  • by mocmoc on 7/20/23, 7:30 AM

    Hero

  • by mats852 on 7/20/23, 2:04 AM

    RIP.

  • by ranl on 7/20/23, 1:56 AM

    RIP. Kevin

  • by eelhazred on 7/20/23, 1:21 AM

    RIP.

  • by concernedctzn on 7/20/23, 1:21 AM

    hack the planet!

  • by nhggfu on 7/20/23, 5:30 AM

    the greatest.

  • by dariushro on 7/20/23, 6:55 PM

    Was he vaxxed?

  • by SEJeff on 7/20/23, 12:22 AM

    dang / mods: if anyone passing deserves the HN black banner, I think Mitnick deserves the banner.

  • by wnissen on 7/20/23, 12:14 AM

    He certainly was an interesting person. It was always amazing the degree to which law enforcement prosecuted his hacking and cracking, when it seems like much more impactful crimes involving computers go uninvestigated. Plenty of people are hounded by threats of violence into leaving their jobs and homes, that seems far more impactful than Mitnick's crimes.

    And FYI, while he died unexpectedly young, a 57-year-old man in the US has only a 50% chance of living to see their child reach 23 years of age. I, personally, wouldn't feel comfortable risking leaving a child with a likelihood of dealing with my death at that relatively young age.

  • by jeremy_carroll on 7/20/23, 5:11 AM

    To be candid; fuck this narrative. Nobody "Beats" cancer based on sheer will. Same scenario as those that did not "Fight hard enough". It's a disease. It does not care about your wants, and needs.

  • by myshpa on 7/20/23, 9:25 AM

    Real hackers get:

    "Sorry, you have been blocked"

    "You are unable to access dignitymemorial.com"

    ;)

  • by daniel-cussen on 7/20/23, 10:26 PM

    Passive voice, better title is Kevin Mitnick died, or passed away, sugar coat it like he never did if you want, we all know what it means. I suddenly feel bad for him, though. He deserved the black ribbon.

  • by shaunxcode on 7/20/23, 1:48 AM

    Black bar.

  • by obiefernandez on 7/20/23, 12:05 AM

    Can we get a black bar?

  • by revskill on 7/20/23, 7:41 AM

    I'm not sure if i should admire Kevin. I don't see his Github contributions at all.

  • by neiman1 on 7/20/23, 12:27 AM

    RIP. I loved reading about Kevin whilst growing up.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlbUYl67LTY

  • by bennylava on 7/20/23, 9:26 PM

    Wow, so much idolatry on here for a criminal.

  • by pizzalife on 7/20/23, 3:33 PM

    You can watch some of Kevin's telnet logs here: http://www.takedown.com/evidence/transcripts/index.html

    No disrespect to the dead, but I always thought he kind of lived in a lame timeframe. It used to be a lot easier to do what he did. If you check the terminal logs, he was a script kiddie at best (I know he's more famous for the social engineering). How many CVEs did Mitnick have to his name..? (AFAIK, zero)

    Anyway, I'm prepared to get some downvotes but do check out the logs. It's pretty entertaining regardless.

  • by programmarchy on 7/20/23, 12:36 AM

    Serious question: why revere Mitnick, but not someone like SBF? Mitnick is admired for his technical skill and social engineering prowess, but the same argument could be made that SBF is also exceptional in this regard on an even larger scale. Both are (alleged) criminals. Genuinely curious what makes Mitnick morally good in the eyes of HN. Was it his redemption arc as a “white hat”?