Kevin Mitnick, former 'most wanted' hacker who police said could launch nukes by whistling into a phone, has died

Kevin Mitnick, the worlds most notorious hacker poses for a portrait at the Brown Palace. Mitnick once worked in Denver under the alias ID Eric Weiss at the Law firm of Holme, Roberts and Owen.
(Image credit: Craig F. Walker/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Kevin Mitnick, one of the most famous computer hackers in the world and the subject of an over two-year manhunt in the 1990s, died of complications from pancreatic cancer last Sunday, aged 59. His death has been confirmed to the New York Times.

Mitnick is a legendary figure, one of those people whose life story reads like an elaborate work of fiction. After getting his start with a punch card machine that let him get free bus rides at age 12, he graduated to phone phreaking and hacking as he got older, breaking into networks owned by corporations like the Digital Equipment Corporation. The police weren't too keen on that, and he was sentenced to a year in prison and three years of supervised release in 1988.

He almost made it through, but right toward the end of his supervised release, a warrant was issued for his arrest over his hack of the Pacific Bell Telephone Company, sparking a manhunt that lasted over two years and ended with his five-year incarceration (he served four and a half of those pre-trial). He spent eight months of that sentence in solitary confinement because, according to him, the police convinced a judge that he could "start a nuclear war by whistling into a phone". 

Someone presumably realised how nonsensical a statement that is at some point, though: After ending his supervised release in 2003, the only bit of tech Mitnick was allowed access to for a while was a landline phone.

Mitnick's legal plight turned him into a bit of a cause célèbre in the '90s. "Free Kevin" stickers were a common sight on bumpers and in university IT departments at the time, and both Yahoo and the NYT were hacked to show messages calling for his release. He became, to many, a symbol of the state's authoritarian incomprehension of the anarchic free spirit of the internet. But for me? Well, I have to admit my own first exposure to him was through (of all things) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, via the game's talk radio station. 

The caller—named Kevin, and apparently played uncredited by Mitnick himself—harangued the host about being put into solitary confinement for hacking, and ranted that he could "launch nuclear missiles just by whistling into a phone". It stuck with me when I learned it was based on an actual person's absurd, real-life experience.

The world's most wanted hacker eventually made good, though. After his release in the 2000s, Mitnick became a writer, speaker, and security consultant, performing penetration testing services and generally trying to help companies defend themselves against people like, ah, Kevin Mitnick.

Mitnick is survived by his wife Kimberley, who is pregnant with their first child. In an obituary posted to the Dignity Memorial funeral home, it's written that his friends and family "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."

Joshua Wolens
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Read more
John McAfee
John McAfee is back from the grave as some sort of AI ghoul-slash-memecoin, and his widow's picking a fight with Elon Musk
 In this photo illustration a novelty Bitcoin token is photographed on a US Dollar bank note, on January 4, 2025 in Bath, England. The Cryptocurrency market has recently received a significant boost by the election of Donald Trump with hopes of the start of a policy framework that could see Bitcoin as a strategic asset
Man charged with $65,000,000 worth of cryptocurrency heists was reportedly discovered through chatting on Discord with a company they allegedly stole from
A computer screen with program code warning of a detected malware script program. 3d illustration
Coder faces 10 years' jailtime for creating a 'kill switch' that screwed-up his employers' systems when he was laid off
Three Magikarp Pokémon
The FBI used self-destruct on malware infecting over 4,000 US computers, it's super effective
Pirate Bay co-founder Carl Lundstrom
Pirate Bay co-founder and far-right politician found dead after plane crash
Fugitive crypto baron Do Kwon is arrested.
'Lunatic' crypto fugitive Do Kwon finally extradited from Montenegro to the US to face charges over $40 billion crash
Latest in Gaming Industry
Gabe Newell in a Valve promotional video, on a yacht.
Go ahead and complain the discounts aren't as steep as they used to be, but Steam just had its biggest year ever for seasonal sales
Pirate Bay co-founder Carl Lundstrom
Pirate Bay co-founder and far-right politician found dead after plane crash
Flag of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia buys Pokémon GO maker for $3.5 billion with a 'B'
Vice President, Games at Netflix Mike Verdu speaks onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt 2022 on October 18, 2022 in San Francisco, California
4 short months after saying 'We'll have to adapt and change', Netflix's AI games VP adapts and changes into a person who isn't working there anymore
Astarion, a beautiful vampire spawn in Baldur's Gate 3, looks dubiously at the player character.
'What do you mean real actors?': Astarion's VO, who shared an awards category with Idris Elba after Baldur's Gate 3, remembers the dark ages of mocap
Yoda Luke and R2 in Lego form.
Lego is going to make its videogames in-house from now on, says it would 'almost rather overinvest'
Latest in News
Peely from Fortnite with banana-fied Wolverine claws.
Fortnite comes to Snapdragon: Epic Games announces upcoming Arm support for its Easy Anti-Cheat software
Texas Instruments MSPM0C1104 tiny chip
World's smallest microcontroller looks like I could easily accidentally inhale it but packs a genuine 32-bit Arm CPU
Silent Hill f transmission trailer screenshots
'We've been keeping fans waiting for an awfully long time': We finally got to see more of Silent Hill f and boy, does it look great
A goblin with sharp teeth, wearing goggles, lets out a mischievous cackle in WoW's latest patch: Undermine(d).
The hooligan hacker guild that tore up WoW's newest raid (twice) just posted video evidence of the whole thing, and it's got me feeling weirdly nostalgic
A pasta "display" on a table showing the word "keep" surrounded by fruit. Obviously.
Penne for your thoughts: This pasta display can show three individual frames and it's trying its best, okay
Intel engineers inspect a lithography machine
Finally some good vibes from Intel as stock jumps 15% on new CEO hire and Arizona fab celebrates 'Eagle has landed' moment for its 18A node