American hacker Kevin Mytnyk died

American computer security specialist Kevin Mytnyk died on July 16 in the USA from liver cancer. He was known as one of the first hackers who successfully broke into the telephone and computer networks of leading American companies. In this role, he became the first computer scientist to be on the FBI’s list of the most wanted criminals in the United States. This made him a cult figure in the industry.

From the age of 12, Mytnyk, using methods of social engineering and technical devices, hacked telephone networks, getting the ability to make free calls and redirect calls. At 17, he first gained illegal access to a computer network at his school. Pacific Bell, Bell Laboratories, Motorola, Nokia, and Sun Microsystems became the victims of ego. For this, he served several prison terms.

Mytnyk’s biography and one of his captures became the plot basis for the book “Hacking” by Tsutomu Shimomura and John Markoff, in 2000 it was adapted into a screenplay by Joe Chappell. In the same year, the hacker was released after his last prison term. He consulted on security issues for the world’s largest companies, including FedEx, Toshiba and IBM, gave lectures and wrote several books, the most famous of which was “The Art of Deception” (2002).

• About the death of the 59-year-old hacker, says the obituary of the King David cemetery in Las Vegas. The information was confirmed by SecurityWeek.
• In 1994, The New York Times reported that Mytnyk hacked the network of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. This information has often been used in hacker biographies, but has never been officially confirmed and is most likely a fabrication.