Kevin Mitnick, once the most wanted computer criminal in US history, died Sunday in age 59 years.
According to the New York Times the cause of death was complications from pancreatic cancer. He had been receiving treatment at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center since his diagnosis a year ago.
Kevin Mitnick was famous for a cybercrime during the 1990s involving the theft of thousands of files data and credit card numbers from computers across America.
He used his skills to hack into US phone and cell phone networks, vandalizing government, corporate and university computer systems. Investigators at the time named him the world's "most wanted" computer hacker.
In 1995, after a manhunt of more than two years, Mr. Mitnick was arrested by the FBI and charged with wiretapping and wire fraud. computer.
In 1998, while Mr. Mitnick was awaiting sentencing, a group of his supporters hacked the website of the New York Times for several hours, forcing him to close.
The following year, Mr. Mitnick finally pleaded guilty to computer fraud as part of a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to 46 months in prison. He was also banned from using a computer or mobile phone without permission for three years after his release.
After serving prison time for hacking corporate computer networks, he was released in 2000 and began a new career as a consultant security, author and speaker around the world.
