世界顶级黑客凯文•米特尼克于2023年7月16日去世，享年59岁

凯文·大卫·米特尼克（Kevin David Mitnick），59岁，于2023年7月16日星期日在与胰腺癌顽强搏斗了一年多后安详地离世。凯文的挚爱妻子金伯利·米特尼克（Kimberley Mitnick）陪伴着他度过了这14个月的艰难时刻。金伯利正在怀孕，这将是他们两人生活中新的一章，但现在这一切都被悲伤地截断了。

凯文在去世之前，他的母亲谢莉·贾菲（Shelly Jaffe）和他深爱的祖母丽芭·瓦尔塔尼安（Reba Vartanian），父亲艾伦·米特尼克（Alan Mitnick）以及同父异母的兄弟亚当·米特尼克（Adam Mitnick）先他而去。

他的姐夫里奇·巴里（Ricky Barry）和妻子罗克西（Roxy）以及他们的三个孩子：米莉（Millie）、温斯顿（Winston）和乔治（George）还活着，他的岳父母戴茜（Daisy）和安德鲁·蒂布斯（Andrew Tibbs），他的继母南茜·金（Nanci King），他的曾祖母索菲·“鸡婆”莱文塔尔（Sophie "Chickie" Leventhal）和她的长期伴侣鲍勃·伯科维茨博士（Dr. Bob Berkowitz），凯文的表亲米奇·莱文塔尔（Mitch Leventhal）、卡伦·范登伯格（Karen van den Berg）、朱莉·米特尼克（Jolie Mitnick）、马克·米特尼克（Mark Mitnick）和温迪·科恩（Wendy Cohen）也还活着。

凯文还想要感谢多年来他亲爱的长期朋友们的巨大爱和支持：迈克尔·莫里斯（Michael Morris）在几十年间对凯文的无私奉献，保罗·德赖曼（Paul Dryman），罗伊·埃斯卡帕（Roy Eskapa），肖恩·南利（Shawn Nunley），达西和布里安娜·伍德（Darci and Brianna Wood），艾米·格雷（Amy Gray），亚历克斯·卡斯珀（Kasperavicius），大卫·肯尼迪（David Kennedy），大卫·福盖特（David Fugate），尼克·斯皮尔托斯博士（Dr. Nick Spirtos），斯图·斯乔尔曼（Stu Sjouwerman）和阿波罗·罗宾斯（Apollo Robbins）。无法列出凯文所有的亲密朋友，他很幸运能有这么多朋友。你们知道你们是谁，你们对凯文的影响是深远的。凯文也非常感激在20世纪90年代中后期支持他的无数粉丝们，他们推动了全球“FREE KEVIN”运动。

凯文是一个独特的人物，他的生活大部分都像小说一样。我们这些认识他的人最常用的词是“壮丽”。

他在加利福尼亚州圣费尔南多谷长大，聪明而不安分，是个爱捣蛋、对权威持反抗态度并热爱魔术的独生子。凯文的聪明才智和吸引观众注意力的喜悦早在他的童年时期就显现出来，并贯穿了他的一生。随着时间的推移，他从恶作剧和学习魔术转向了电话窃听、社交工程和计算机黑客技术。

当他追求突破界限的欲望使他走得太远时，他曾被送进少年拘留所，并最终在监狱服刑了几次。他在FBI的通缉名单上的经历在他的《纽约时报》畅销书《线上幽灵：我作为全球最通缉的黑客的冒险》以及他与威廉·西蒙（William Simon）合著的其他作品《欺骗的艺术》、《侵入的艺术》和与罗伯特·瓦莫西（Robert Vamosi）合著的《隐形的艺术》中有详细记录。

凯文于2000年1月结束了他最后一次监狱生涯，他将其称为“度假”。他变了一个人，开始构建新的职业生涯，成为一名白帽黑客和安全顾问。他成为备受追捧的全球公众演讲家、作家，并创立了成功的Mitnick安全咨询公司。2011年11月，他成为安全意识培训公司KnowBe4的首席黑客官和部分所有者，该公司由亲密的朋友和商业伙伴斯图·斯乔尔曼创立。

凯文吸引了来自不太可能的来源的关注和支持。一位公交车司机曾见证了年轻的凯文如何记住公交车时刻表、打孔卡和打孔工具系统，以便整天免费乘坐公交车，并在凯文的联邦审判中作证。联邦检察官提供了他的证词，称凯文从未从任何“受害者”那里骗取一分钱。监督凯文出狱后的缓刑官员允许凯文在还不应该接触计算机的情况下用笔记本电脑写作他的第一本书。肖恩·南利，FBI对凯文的案件中的主要证人，对政府对凯文的待遇感到如此失望，以至于他联系了凯文的辩护团队，帮助争取到凯文的释放，并成为凯文最亲密的朋友之一。凯文有一种不可抗拒的能力，可以将敌人变成朋友，并使他们成为永久的朋友。

了解凯文就是为他着迷、恼火、惊讶、欢乐、烦恼和完全被他迷住——这些感受同样强烈。他坚持要时刻保持最新的信息，即使这意味着一天内给同一个人打几十个电话，只是为了确保他掌握所有的事实。他对自己和与他合作的人设立了极高的标准，并且会在工作中遇到的复杂问题中迷失数小时。他大部分时间都与他的全球幽灵团队一起工作，这是一个遍布阿根廷、西班牙、德国、加拿大等地的精英渗透测试团队。凭借自学和渴望、强烈的动力、巨大的好奇心和似乎无穷无尽的精力，他不断扩展自己作为黑客的技能。他对提升自己和团队在行业中的卓越水平追求无止境。凯文是一个有远见的人，他懂得如何进入他被授权黑客的每个组织。他利用这些知识为了更大的利益，并开发了黑客演示，向商业界和普通人普及如何保护自己。凯文的作品激发了许多人追求网络安全的职业，他在这个行业留下了不可磨灭的印记和令人难以置信的遗产。

原文：

Kevin David Mitnick, 59, died peacefully on Sunday, July 16, 2023, after valiantly battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year. Kevin is survived by his beloved wife, Kimberley Mitnick, who remained by his side throughout their 14-month ordeal. Kimberley is pregnant with their first child. Kevin was ecstatic about this new chapter in his and Kimberley's life together, which has now been sadly cut short.

Kevin was preceded in death by his devoted mother, Shelly Jaffe, and his loving grandmother, Reba Vartanian, his father, Alan Mitnick, and his half-brother, Adam Mitnick.

He is survived by his brother-in-law, Ricky Barry and his wife Roxy, and their three children: Millie, Winston, and George, his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Daisy and Andrew Tibbs, his stepmother Nanci King, his great aunt Sophie "Chickie" Leventhal and her longtime partner, Dr. Bob Berkowitz, Kevin's cousins Mitch Leventhal, Karen van den Berg, Jolie Mitnick, Mark Mitnick and Wendy Cohen.

Kevin would also want to acknowledge the tremendous love and support over the years of his dear long-time friends: Michael Morris who showed tremendous dedication to Kevin over many decades, Paul Dryman, Roy Eskapa, Shawn Nunley, Darci and Brianna Wood, Amy Gray, Alex Kasper (Kasperavicius), David Kennedy, David Fugate, Dr. Nick Spirtos, Stu Sjouwerman, and Apollo Robbins. It is impossible to list all of Kevin’s close friends. He was blessed to have so many. You know who you are. Your impact on Kevin was profound. Kevin was also very grateful for the legions of fans who in the mid-to-late 1990’s fueled the global “FREE KEVIN” movement.

Kevin was an original; much of his life reads like a fiction story. The word that most of us who knew him would use – magnificent.

He grew up brilliant and restless in the San Fernando Valley in California, an only child with a penchant for mischief, a defiant attitude toward authority, and a love for magic. Kevin's intelligence and delight in holding the rapt attention of audiences revealed themselves early in his childhood and continued throughout his life. In time, he transitioned from pranks and learning magic tricks to phone phreaking, social engineering, and computer hacking.

When his desire to push boundaries led him too far astray, he landed in juvenile detention and eventually served a couple of stints in prison. His time on the FBI's Most Wanted List was well documented in his New York Times bestselling book, The Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker, and his other titles: The Art of Deception, The Art of Intrusion, both co-authored with William Simon, and The Art of Invisibility with Robert Vamosi.

Kevin emerged from his final prison term, which he deemed a 'vacation,' in January 2000. He was a changed individual, and began constructing a new career, as a White Hat hacker and security consultant. He became a highly sought-after global public speaker, a writer, and established the successful Mitnick Security Consulting. In November 2011, he became the Chief Hacking Officer and part owner of security awareness training company KnowBe4, founded by close friend and business partner Stu Sjouwerman.

Kevin attracted attention and support from unlikely sources. The bus driver who saw young Kevin memorize the bus schedules, punch cards and punch tool systems so he could ride the buses all day for free testified as a character witness for Kevin during his federal trial. The federal prosecutor offered his testimony that Kevin never tried to take one dime from any of his “victims.” The probation officer assigned to monitor Kevin after prison gave Kevin permission to write his first book on a laptop when he was not yet supposed to have access to computers. Shawn Nunley, the star witness in the FBI's case against Kevin, became so disillusioned with the government's treatment of Kevin that he contacted Kevin's defense team, helped garner Kevin's release, and became one of Kevin's dearest friends. Kevin had an irresistible way of converting foes to friends and keeping them as friends forever.

To know Kevin was to be enthralled, exasperated, amazed, amused, irritated, and utterly charmed - in equal measure. He was insistent upon being kept updated at all times - even when it meant dozens of phone calls in a single day to the same person - just to be sure he had all the facts. He set incredibly high standards for himself and those who worked with him, and would get lost for hours in complex problems encountered in his work. He spent much of his time working with his Global Ghost Team, an elite pentesting team that spans Argentina, Spain, Germany, Canada, and beyond. Self-educated and driven by eagerness, intense drive, immense curiosity, and seemingly endless energy, he continually expanded his skills as a hacker. He was insatiable in pushing himself, and his team, to pursue excellence in their tradecraft. Kevin was a visionary and an expert at finding a way into every organization he was authorized to hack. He used this knowledge for the greater good and to develop hacking demonstrations that educated the business world and everyday people on how to protect themselves. Kevin’s body of work inspired many individuals to pursue a career in cybersecurity - the industry upon which he leaves an indelible mark and an incredible legacy.

Kevin applied that same relentless tenacity to attempting to beat pancreatic cancer. He and Kimberley invested thousands of hours in searching for the very best treatments, finding the cutting edge research, and working with the most talented and aggressive doctors and surgeons. That search led him to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Dr. Amer Zureikat, Dr. Randall Brand, and their incredible staff. Each individual did their utmost to help Kevin beat the odds and survive and for that we will always be grateful.

Kevin was a gentleman: well-mannered and respectful, astoundingly generous with those he loved. He had a unique and unforgettable laugh - a delightful, loud, booming one - which he unleashed unexpectedly and often, frequently accompanied by a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He saw the funny side of his compulsive perfectionism and work ethic, and enjoyed laughing at his own expense - a rare quality among the best of us.

We knew him simply as Kev, our beloved friend, a devoted husband, and a trustworthy confidante. Kevin Mitnick crammed a dozen lifetimes into a single prematurely short one. He wanted nothing more than to live -- to keep enjoying the little "BIG" things like quality time with his wife and their growing family, his in-laws, his relatives, and his longtime friends.

He had so much living left to do. And we know, with broken hearts, that there will never ever be anyone like him again. We will miss him for the rest of our days, hear his voice in our minds, and look forward to reconnecting with him in whatever version of the 'beyond' we each believe in. To imagine that Kev could be there to greet us, likely playing a prank, or inviting us to share an extraordinary meal and conversation, will be heaven indeed. We are each so deeply grateful for the time we had with this truly great man.

We celebrate that a part of Kevin will live on with the upcoming birth of his and Kimberley’s child. We can only hope that the child knows, as he or she grows, that around the world, the many friends of his father will be holding them in their hearts.

Rest in peace, Kev, you are well loved and will be missed always.

A private memorial and burial service will be held for close friends and family members.

Donations can be made in Kevin's memory to The National Pancreas Foundation https://pancreasfoundation.org/ or The Equal Justice Initiative https://eji.org/

These are two causes of great importance to Kimberley and Kevin; both organizations put the majority of donated funds to work in the communities they serve.