Meet Kevin Mitnick - The Worlds Most Famous Hacker

Kevin Mitnick

• A seminal figure in American hacking, Kevin Mitnick got his start as a teen. In 1981, he was charged with stealing computer manuals from Pacific Bell.
• In 1982 he hacked the North American Defense Command (NORAD), which inspired the 1983 film "War Games." In 1989, he hacked Digital Equipment Corporation's (DEC) network and made copies of their software. Because DEC was a leading computer manufacturer at the time, this act put Mitnick on the map.
• He was later arrested, convicted and sent to prison. During his conditional release, he hacked Pacific Bell's voicemail systems.

-Throughout his hacking career, Mitnick didn't exploit the access and data he'd obtained. While it's widely believed that he once obtained full control of Pacific Bell's network, Mitnik wasn't out to exploit the results, but wanted to prove it could be done.

• A warrant was issued for his arrest for the Pacific Bell incident, but he fled and was in hiding for more than two years.
• When caught, he went to prison for multiple counts of wire fraud and computer fraud.
• Mitnick ultimately went white hat, but according to Wired, in 2014, he launched "Mitnick's Absolute Zero Day Exploit Exchange," which sells unpatched, critical software exploits to the highest bidder.

-You can read more about Top Ten Most Notorious (Infamous) Hackers of All Time at:

https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/top-ten-greatest-hackers