Kevin Mitnick, considered one of the world’s most iconic hackers in the entire history of cybersecurity, died over the weekend at his 59th birthday after fighting pancreatic cancer for more than a year, according to an obituary written by his family.

Before he died on July 16, his hacking sprees were well-known, and they were the basis for more than one movie.

The first movie, “WarGames,” featuring Matthew Broderick, was partly based on claims that Mitnick broke into the computer systems at North American Aerospace Defense Command when he was a youth and did so successfully. He denied ever having done so.

Mitnick’s restless curiosity got the best of him in 1988, when he was caught stealing $1 million worth of software from Digital Equipment Corporation. Mitnick was given a year in jail and three years of probation, but in 1995, he broke his probation and a new arrest warrant was issued. The government charge against Mitnick says that while he was on the run, he broke into the computer systems of many businesses, cell phone companies, and schools.

Mitnick and those who stood up for him said the whole time that he was not trying to hurt anyone or make money.

Kevin Mitnick a legendary Hero in the field of Hacking.

Mitnick told Wired magazine in an interview in 2008, “I was a hacker from the old school. I did it out of intellectual curiosity.” But the federal government was so worried about what he could do that when he was locked up again in 1995, Mitnick told CNN that he was kept in solitary confinement for a while because they were afraid that even being near a phone could let him keep hacking.

In 1999, Mitnick and federal officials worked out a deal where he would plead guilty to seven crimes, such as wire fraud and damaging computers. As part of the deal, he was sentenced to 46 months in jail and told he couldn’t work in any job that gave him access to computers or computer-related tools or software while on probation. However, he was freed in 2000 because he had already spent that much time.

“Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker,” Mitnick’s book about his time as a hacker, came out in 2011.

After his time in jail, Mitnick turned into a “white-hat” hacker. He used his skills to help businesses find people who were trying to break into their systems. For the past ten years, he was the chief hacking officer and a part-owner of the tech security company KnowBe4, which was started by his close friend and business partner Stu Sjouwerman.

In a 2005 interview with CNN, Mitnick said, “When I was younger, I did some really stupid things that I regret.” “I’m lucky that I’ve been given a second chance and that I can use these skills to help the community.”

In a statement, Sjouwerman said, “Kevin was a dear friend to me and many of us here at KnowBe4” “He was an important figure in the growth of the cybersecurity industry, but Kevin was mostly just a great person who will be missed very much.”

Mitnick’s company said that a funeral service will be held in Las Vegas on August 1. His family said that he is left by his wife Kimberley, who is expecting their first child.

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