R.I.P.

Legendary Hacker Kevin Mitnick Dead at 59

“Kevin was an original; much of his life reads like a fiction story. The word that most of us who knew him would use–magnificent.”

Kevin Mitnick, once considered the world’s most-wanted computer hacker, has died at the age of 59 following complications from pancreatic cancer. A cybersecurity training company he co-founded, KnowBe4, announced on Wednesday that Mitnick passed away Sunday. “Kevin was an original; much of his life reads like a fiction story. The word that most of us who knew him would use–magnificent,” his obituary reads. After a brazen hacking spree in the 1990s in which he infiltrated the country’s cell networks, stole thousands of data files and credit card numbers, and breached government computer systems, he was nabbed by the FBI in 1995 after two years on the run. He spent five years in prison before starting over as a White Hat hacker, security consultant, and public speaker. He denied ever stealing money from any of the people whose credit card numbers he obtained, writing in his memoir: “Anyone who loves to play chess knows that it’s enough to defeat your opponent. You don’t have to loot his kingdom or seize his assets to make it worthwhile.”