Kevin Mitnick – The Most Infamous Hacker of All Time
The art of hacking has been in development for many years and is still evolving today. Hacking was at its peak long before the Internet was even conceived. Some of the most amazing and exciting stories about hackers like Kevin Mitnick are available online. Kevin Mitnick hacks for a variety of reasons, including notoriety, money, street cred, and simply for personal achievement.
Even before the Internet, there were numerous targets for hackers to prey on. Hackers were able to reverse engineer casino games such as slot machines. Hackers exploited social engineering and phone systems not only to gain access to free long-distance calls but also to make financial gains from their exploits.
It was during this period before the invention of the Internet that the number one most infamous hacker on our list developed and refined his abilities: Kevin Mitnick is a comedian and actor who has appeared in several films.
Kevin Mitnick’s early hacking exploits were widely publicized.
Kevin Mitnik was born on this date in 1963. He began using social engineering techniques when he was 12 years old, long before the term “social engineering” was coined.
Kevin approached a bus driver and explained that he was looking for information for a school project. He asked the bus driver to provide him with information about the bus ticketing system and how he could obtain a card punch machine to punch tickets on the bus.
Afterward, Kevin went on a “dumpster dive” to obtain unpunched bus transfer tickets. To “hack” himself free bus rides, he used a punch machine to punch holes in the tickets.
Kevin Mitnick gained access to the DEC company network when he was sixteen years old (Digital Equipment Corporation). It was on this DEC system that the development of an early operating system for 16-bit minicomputers took place, which was later adopted by the industry.
Although Kevin Mitnick copied all of the files from the system, he did nothing malicious with the data. Kevin Mitnick was charged and sentenced to one year in prison in 1988, despite his denials. After being released from prison, he was required to participate in a three-year supervised release program.
Kevin Mitnick, on the other hand, was unable to stop hacking.
During his three-year probation, it was discovered that he had hacked into Pacific Bell’s voice mail computers just a couple of months before it was scheduled to expire. Mitnick did this to listen to the voicemails left by law enforcement officers who were keeping an eye on him and checking on him.
Instead of returning to prison, Mitnick chose to flee the country.
- Mitnick the Fugitive is a fictional character created by the author of the novel Mitnick the Fugitive.
- Mitnick was hiding out in the Denver area, going by a fictitious name and posing as a fake ID. His hacking activities continued and he gained access to dozens of computer networks, intercepted passwords, gained access to private email systems, and carried out a slew of other activities that hackers enjoy. It was almost as if he couldn’t stop himself.
- Mitnick rose to the top of the list of the most wanted hackers in the United States.
- When Mitnick went on the run in 1992, he was the most wanted hacker on the planet. He was rightfully concerned that he would be apprehended by the government’s electronic surveillance systems.
So he came up with a brilliant idea. The Motorola MicroTAK Ultralite was the most advanced cell phone available at the time. Obtaining the source code for this phone would give Mitnick the ability to alter the ESN number and other identifying information that the phone transmitted.
He reasoned that by doing so, the authorities would be unable to track him down and arrest him.
As a result, Mitnick dialed his phone.
It wasn’t difficult at all. To get in touch with the department that was working on the source code for the MicroTAC Ultralite, Kevin Mitnick dialed Motorola and was transferred from department to department.
Due to Kevin’s exceptional social engineering skills, he was able to persuade the Motorola employees that he was also a Motorola employee and that he required access to the source code.
Approximately twenty minutes later, the Motorola staff transferred the file to him via FTP.
The Capture of the Capture
Mitnick was engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with the FBI and a group of computer researchers who had been the target of Mitnick’s hacking attempts at the time. Mitnick’s location was tracked down to his apartment using cell towers and mobile antennas.
Finally, Mitnick had been apprehended, arrested, and was about to go on trial, where he faced a 15-year prison sentence.
Affirmation of the Conviction
Mitnick was not sentenced to 15 years in prison, but he was sentenced to five years in prison for his hacking. His legal rights to profit from books or films were suspended for seven years after he was finally granted freedom.
Kevin Mitnick is a comedian and actor who has appeared in several films. Kevin Mitnick is now a multi-millionaire as a result of his success. He has written several books on hacking and information security. All of his books are bestsellers, and he is well-known in the cybersecurity community for his contributions. His published works include:
- Understanding and Managing the Human Element of Security is an art that can be learned.
- Hackers, intruders, and deceivers: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders, and Deceivers is a book about the art of intrusion.
- Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker is a memoir about my experiences as the world’s most wanted hacker.
- When it comes to staying safe in the age of Big Brother and Big Data, the world’s most famous hacker teaches you how to do so in The Art of Invisibility.
- Kevin Mitnick, however, is a sought-after speaker who earns tens of thousands of dollars per appearance in addition to his books. Mitnick is also the founder and CEO of Mitnick Security, a well-known cybersecurity company.
Hacking Is Lucrative
At the very least, it does if your name is Kevin Mitnick. The world’s most well-known black hat hacker is now one of the world’s most well-known white-hat security experts, according to Forbes.
