Rest in peace, Kevin.
Kevin Mitnick has died
291–300 of 666 posts
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#292Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Mitnick above all wasn’t boring and I think “not boring” doesn’t get enough credit in the measure of a man. My wife might agree or disagree with you, depending on the day.
My ex certainly wasn't boring. But they certainly were physically abusive. I don't believe that automatically qualifies someone as deserving of credit.
Abuse is hella boring. We’re all tired of it
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#293Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really enjoyed the book Takedown, about Shimomura's pursuit of Mitnick - I must have read it three or four times. I always wondered what happened to Shimomura, since he just seemed to drop out of sight after that book came out.
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Blockchain
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#294For those looking for an official source outside of the obituary: Dave Kennedy (a longtime infosec pro and, in my opinion, a trusted source) confirmed in a tweet: https://nitter.net/HackingDave/status/1681838080355966976 Although I haven't seen an "official" statement, I believe that this news is legitimate. RIP Kevin.
The New York Times has also posted their obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/technology/kevin-mitnick-...
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#295If you're looking for other stories, The Art of Deception (Mitnick specific) and The Art of Intrusion (not all Mitnick) have a ton.
In a similar vein of social engineering, Exploding The Phone is good read about the Phreakers of yore.
It's in my Amazon list and now I know why. I'm 34 and learned about phreaking well after it was a thing but it inspired me.
Now I'm a cybersecurity consultant (glorified sysadmin) making a nice salary but without any of the joy that was present in my 20s rebelling against my F100 company's IT policy. Installing Dokuwiki on a shadow server just to get shit done. Helping write a custom request system to get shit done. Consequences came after.
I'm not comparing myself to Mitnick, rest in peace, only reflecting on the passing of a titan before my prime that represents a moment in communication hacking that may never exist again.
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#296Worth noting that Wikipedia at the time of this post is refusing to acknowledge his death, citing poor sources. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kevin_Mitnick&act... Hope he is alive and well. May he rest in peace if not
The New York Times has their obituary up: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/technology/kevin-mitnick-...
RIP
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#297Mitnick 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…
This is a big deal to me in a man, probably the primary thing I look for. I don't want to have a boring life.
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#298I think it's trolling. Single source.
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#299Who knows where I would be today if not for Kevin's influence... Kevin was (and will continue to be!) a role model in many ways. RIP
Re: Kevin Mitnick has died
#300I was not aware he was ill. Always sad to hear people that are taken by cancer. I didn't know Kevin, but am friends with Tsutomu Shimomura who worked with authorities to get him arrested. Tsutomu worked with me a bit when I was at Sun trying to get a cryptographically secure subsystem into the base system specification. It was fun to listen to his side of this story. The 80's was a really weird time for computer enth…
Markoff and Shimomura received $750,000 for their book rights and $650,000 for the film rights. The most sensational parts in the book or the movie had absolutely nothing to do with the truth.
Sharknado is closer to reality than Track Down. The cringest part is Tsutomu's fictional gf.