Famed hacker, wanted felon turned security consultant, Kevin Mitnick dies at 59

Kevin Mitnick, a famed hacker who was one of the most wanted computer criminals in the country turned security consultant died at the age of 59 on Sunday.

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Kathy Wattman, a spokeswoman for KnowBe4, told the Washington Post that Mitnick’s cause of death was pancreatic cancer. KnowBe4 was the security training company where Mitnick worked.

The King David Memorial Chapel & Cemetery in Las Vegas said that Mitnick was undergoing treatment at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center since he was diagnosed, according to the New York Times.

Mitnick was a hacker that was part of a long manhunt by the FBI in the 1990s that made him the country’s most famous cybercriminal, according to the Post.

Mitnick’s crime spree in the 1990s involved the theft of thousands of data files and credit card numbers from computers nationwide, according to the Times. He made his way into phone and cell networks, and vandalized government, corporate, and university computer systems in the process.

At the time, he was named the “most wanted” hacker in the world by investigators, according to the Times.

He was captured by the FBI in 1995 which was about two years after the manhunt started, according to the newspaper. He was charged with illegal use of a telephone access device and computer fraud. He was also charged with breaking into and tampering with corporate computer networks. He was released in 2000.

Mitnick was barred from using computers, modems, cellphones, or anything with internet access for three years, according to The Associated Press. This also included public speaking. The restrictions were eventually eased and he was back online in Dec. 2002.

He then went on to become a security consultant, writer and public speaker, according to the Times.

Mitnick is survived by his wife, Kimberly Mitnick, who is pregnant with their first child, the King David Memorial Chapel & Cemetery said, according to the Times.