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.
Kevin Mitnick has died
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Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#142dang / mods: if anyone passing deserves the HN black banner, I think Mitnick deserves the banner.
As one of the people whose credit card number was stolen from Netcom, I would strongly object to this. I'm not here to speak poorly of the dead, but I'm definitely here to judge those who think too highly of him.
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Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#143Mitnick 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.
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#144I 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...
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#145Mitnick 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 veri…
How would he have known the CEO's bank account number? Did the CEO write him a check at some point? Or maybe a bank's CEO traditionally gets account number 1…
Bank account numbers aren't secret, they're written on the bottom of every check you write. The story lacks the details of how he got his hands on it but its not unreasonable to assume he was able to access such unprotected information.
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#146dang / mods: if anyone passing deserves the HN black banner, I think Mitnick deserves the banner.
I am going to swim against the current and ask that you please not do this. His crimes weren't victimless and his actions hurt real people. While I think pancreatic cancer is a terrible thing to die from, and while I feel for his loved ones, HN's black banner is a mark of honor, and that is not something I think he earned.
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#147dang / mods: if anyone passing deserves the HN black banner, I think Mitnick deserves the banner.
Absolutely. This is "hacker" news after all, and if there ever was one it was him. You don't have to think highly of him, but Mitnick was an institution.
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#148[dead]
This sounds like an interesting story I’d like to hear. One that might shine light and spread the word about about such things.
Chisel off the serial numbers of these stories and have at it.
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#149RIP.
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#150hack the planet!