Who is Kevin Mitnick? Kevin David Mitnick was born on the sixth of August in 1963 in the USA. Mitnick is an iconic figure in the field of information security - writer, former computer hacker, computer security consultant. At the end of the XX century, he was found guilty of various computer and communication crimes. His father left the family in 1968, so his mother had to work most of the time. Kevin spent a lot of time in the virtual world. How it all started Almost every day, instead of boring school, Kevin went on a trip through the streets of a big city. He was attracted by the lights of Los Angeles, the noise and bustle around. Often he would take a bus and go to a new neighborhood in order to explore all its nooks and crannies by the evening. For a young boy, such trips were not cheap. Trying to solve the problem, he drew attention to travel tickets, which allowed him to use public transport as many times as necessary for a certain time. It looked like an ordinary cardboard card, in which its validity period was recorded. It seemed easier to correct the signature, it remained to find a used travel card somewhere. After rummaging in the trash can of the bus station, Kevin collected a bag full of these cards. And after a minor edit, he could freely travel all over Los Angeles, enjoying his freedom. In a short time, he learned the schedules of all bus routes in the city and was so well versed in the intricacies of the streets that he could accurately name where almost any institution was located. Phone hacking In the 70s, until personal computers were properly distributed, the telephone was the height of perfection in technological communications. And all the first hackers of the planet at the beginning of their "creative path" were engaged in phreaking, that is, they called by phone completely free of charge. From the age of 12, Mitnik joined the cohort of phreakers. Getting to know Roscoe, with whom they will soon terrify all telephone and computer companies in the USA, turned out to be a landmark event in the life of a teenager. The most common joke from Mitnik's arsenal is the transfer of a landline phone to the category of a street payphone. And when the unlucky friend picked up the phone to call, the polite voice of the operator said: "Please drop 20 cents." From phones to computers At that time it was 1979, and Mitnik's hobbies did not violate the country's legislation, since there were simply no laws that defined hacking as illegal. Many parents encouraged their children's enthusiasm for computers. "If you hacked a PC in 1979, you were considered a genius. If you do it now, you'll end up in jail." In 1980, Kevin performed his first hacking "feat": he hacked the database of his own school, gaining unlimited access to all information related to educational activities, including the "report card" on academic performance. He could have become an excellent student overnight, but he did not do it, but only earned recognition in the nascent hacker environment. It is noteworthy that many more times in his life Kevin Mitnick will have unlimited opportunities, but he will not take advantage of them — he did not want illegal fame and pirate wealth! A year later, having made significant progress in hacking, he penetrated the computer system of the North American air defense forces in Colorado. The generals only wagged their finger, leaving this incident unpunished. Further — more. In 1982, he committed a high-profile theft of educational materials on COSMOS and Microport from Pacific Bell. Having "chatted up" the security guard, Kevin and his friends entered the main building of the company, although it was already well after midnight, and with bags full of technical documentation on the phones calmly left it. In return for this, Mitnik received three months in a California center for difficult teenagers and a year of probation. And a couple of weeks after his release, he hacked the Pentagon's ARPANet network, which after a while became publicly available and educational. Signs that Mitnik still exists appeared in 1994. Then Mitnick became seriously interested in cellular telephony. The authorities suspected him of stealing cellular communication control software from the Motorola laboratory. Also, McCaw Cellular Communications stated that someone stole the electronic serial numbers of its cell phones. Investigating this statement, the FBI even managed to track down Kevin, but he managed to escape at the last moment. Battle of the giants On the night of December 25, 1994, Mitnick hacked into the home computer of Tsutomu Shimomura, a leading American computer security specialist. The attack was skillful: Mitnick first hacked into the computer of Loyola University in Chicago, from where it was possible to gain access to Shimomura's computer. Kevin successfully copied hundreds of classified files. The police squads, after a prolonged combing of the area with the help of radio equipment, detected a telephone signal when Mitnik tried to go online again. On the night of February 15, 1995, Mitnik was arrested. Kevin was charged with 23 counts of fraud using computer systems. The prosecutor said that Mitnik was guilty of causing damage in excess of $ 80 million. Hacker's Creativity Since Kevin Mitnick was the most famous hacker, popular culture could not ignore him. His name is mentioned in the literature, and he himself has published several books: "The Art of being invisible"; "A Ghost on the Net. Memoirs of the greatest hacker". He also became the prototype of a game character in the computer toy Deus Ex, and a film was made about him called "Hacking". Kevin Mitnick now After getting out of prison, Kevin reformed. Went over to the side of the light, so to speak. He started working as a computer security expert and actively helped the police. In 2010, he opened the company Defensive Thinking Inc. which began to help defend against cyber attacks.
