Black Hat/White Hat, Mitnick was a Legend
July 25, 2023
Blog
"I was addicted to hacking, more for the intellectual challenge, the curiosity, the seduction of adventure; not for stealing, or causing damage, or writing computer viruses."
-Kevin Mitnick
On July 16th 2023, the world lost a very interesting man. Kevin David Mitnick. He was 59 years old and had been battling pancreatic cancer.
But the life he led is what we are discussing, and his life could certainly be taken out of a piece of fiction.
His adventure started when he was 16 and he hacked into his first system. He would eventually be found guilty of computer fraud in 1988 and served a year sentence for what was determined he copied a private software IP. In his book, The Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker, Mitnik discusses his time on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.
After a vacation, as he called it, some would call it a prison stint, Mitnick began his new path of using his magnificent talents for the better. He became a world-famous public speaker, writer, and created Mitnick Security Consulting. This eventually led to him being the Chief Hacking Officer and part-owner of KnowBe4 a security awareness firm. Kevin became a true White Hat.
To do Kevin justice is to learn from Kevin. Please read his obituary.
"To some people I'll always be the bad guy."
-Kevin Mitnick (August 6, 1963 – July 16, 2023)
Chad Cox. Production Editor, Embedded Computing Design, has responsibilities that include handling the news cycle, newsletters, social media, and advertising. Chad graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. in Cultural and Analytical Literature.
