Kevin Mitnick, a hacker who famously served time in prison for various computer and communications-related crimes, has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 59.
SecurityWeek sources have confirmed Mitnick’s passing, which was first reported in an obituary posted at Dignity Memorial, a Las Vegas funeral home.
At the time of his death, Mitnick was working as security evangelist and ‘Chief Hacking Officer’ at KnowBe4, a security awareness training company based in Florida.
Mitnick gained global fame in the mid 1990s when he was arrested by the FBI on computer hacking and wire fraud charges. He was sentenced to prison time after a plea deal and would later write books and pursue celebrity as the so-called “world’s most famous hacker ever.”
According to the published obituary, Mitnick is survived by his wife Kimberley Mitnick, who is pregnant with their first child.
Related: Kevin Mitnick Launches Brokerage Service for Zero-Days
