Today marks exactly one year since a dear friend left this world. As I reflect, my mind is filled with memories of our shared moments. Since we first met in 2011, we never stopped connecting, no matter where life took us. It was impossible not to miss his infectious smile, his love for fun, and the joy he always brought with him.
Kevin carried his suitcases full of gadgets, computers, demos, and costumes for his shows around the world. He always had friends waiting for him with open arms wherever he went. I met him through his involvement in our beloved SEAL and from that moment on, we shared all the tricks we created.
We met in every corner of the globe. From Chile to Madrid, Las Vegas, Barcelona, Saint Joseph, and San Diego, we shared experiences. We loved the same things, and we valued people more than machines.
With our nomadic lives, we mightn’t connect all the time, but we kept in touch. When we did meet, we always made plans for the future. And when we were apart, we would share hacks and tricks with each other.
Hanging out with some great friends in Santiago, Chile!!!@chemaalonso @fggimeno @gbergel @SSBenitez pic.twitter.com/UXhOeIhveu
— Kevin Mitnick (@kevinmitnick) March 19, 2019
Kevin was a big kid at heart: playful, cheerful, and fun. He always wanted everyone to be happy and content in his presence. His social skills, along with being a fun-loving hacker, made him the best Social Engineer Hacker to ever grace our world! And any plan involving him was always a good thing.
Figure 5: Jet Ski Day at Hoover Dam
I know his legacy is etched in history, and his impact on the world will be remembered forever. His fame, legend, and image will always be synonymous with what it means to be a “hacker.” For me, knowing the person behind the legend made my life a little bit better.
We shared coffees, tips, video conferences, and even gave a talk together. During the pandemic, Kevin and Kim went to Australia, and we had to synchronize our schedules to stay in touch. Even being apart, we enjoyed sharing ideas and making the confinement more bearable.
Figure 7: Pandemic talks with Condor
From all those moments, I retain many ideas, crazy notions, and “what ifs” that we systematically discussed. It was always a whirlwind of ideas, projects to create, hacks and proofs of concept to explore, and demos to stage, like the Dirtytooth one involving people’s phones. The weekend we spent in San Diego during ToorCON, those ideas were fantastic.
Figure 8: DirtyTooth presentation in 2017
Today, I want to remember Kevin as he was: happy, full of energy, and generous with his time. But I also want to finish this reflection on a happy note. Kevin left us a very special legacy, which is in the care of Kimberly Mitnick, his greatest and most beautiful work. And it is none other than the wonderful smile on his precious son, Morty Mitnick. Every time I see photos of that child growing up, it brightens my day.
Figure 9: Photo taken by Kimberly Mitnick in Las Vegas
I don’t know when Morty Mitnick will start to “explode” into the world, but he certainly has that joy that will allow him to “hack” humans with his happiness. I hope one day I can teach him some Spanish. To the hacker who was always impossible with his father: “I’m a lazy hacker, Chema!!”.
Today, I raise a toast to you, Kevin David Mitnick.
Greetings Evil Ones!
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Remembering Kevin Mitnick: A Tribute to a True Hacker
Today is exactly one year since a friend left me. And today my head is filled with memories of the moments with him. Since I met him in *2011*, we never stopped seeing each other once more, wherever life took us in the world. It was impossible not to miss the eternal smile, the desire for fun, and the joy that he always brought with himself.
*Figure 1: Kevin David Mitnick. In your memory*
He traveled with his suitcases full of things all over the world. With his computers. With his *gadgets*. With his demos and the costumes for his shows. And in every corner of the world, he always had friends who are waiting for him with open arms. I met him because he was an illustrious user of our beloved *SEAL*, and from that moment on, all the *tricks* that we were creating, we shared them together.
We met in any country, and we were meeting to see each other in *Chile*, in *Madrid*, in *Las Vegas*, in *Barcelona*, in *Saint Joseph*, in *San Diego*. We did the same things. We liked the same things. And we enjoyed people more than machines.
With our nomadic life, we mightn’t see each other all the time, but we did maintain a constant connection, and when we met, we always made plans. And if we mightn’t see each other, we would connect to tell each other *hacks & tricks*.
Hanging out with some great friends in Santiago, Chile!!!@chemaalonso @fggimeno @gbergel @SSBenitez pic.twitter.com/UXhOeIhveu
— Kevin Mitnick (@kevinmitnick) March 19, 2019
*Kevin* was a big boy. Playful, cheerful, fun. Always looking for everyone to be happy and content when he was around. A fun-loving *hacker* with a social skill that makes it no wonder he is the best *Social Engineer Hacker* who has set foot on our land. And proposing any plan to him was always a good thing.
*Figure 5: Jet Ski Day at Hoover Dam*
I know that his legacy is indelible in history. And that his name has been written forever by the impact he had on the whole world. His fame, his legend, his image, will always accompany what it means to be a “hacker”. And for me, being able to meet the boy, rather than the legend, is something that has made my life a little bit better.
We shared coffees, tips, video conferences, and even gave a talk together. During the pandemic, *Kevin* and *Kim* went to *Australia*, and we had to synchronize our schedules to be able to see each other. It was a time of being apart, but at least we enjoyed being able to chat and make the confinements more bearable by sharing ideas.
*Figure 7: Pandemic talks with Condor*
From all those moments, I keep many ideas, crazy things and *whatifs* which we systematically discussed. It was always a torrent of ideas, of projects to create, of hacks & pocs that we had to explore to see if they worked. Of demos that would be fun to do on stage, like the one by Dirtytooth with people’s phones. The weekend we spent in *San Diego* during the *ToorCON*, these ideas were amazing.
*Figure 8: DirtyTooth presentation in 2017*
Today is a day when I want to remember him as he was *Kevin*. Happy. Full of energy. That with which he has given us all his time. But I also want to finish very happy. And that is because *Kevin* left us a very special legacy, which he takes care of *Kimberly Mitnick*. His greatest and most beautiful work. And it is nothing more and nothing less than a wonderful smile on the precious child that is *Morty Mitnick*. Every time I receive photos of that child and see him growing up, it brightens my day.
*Figure 9: Photo taken by Kimberly Mitnick in Las Vegas*
I don’t know when it will start *Morty Micknit* to execute *explode*, but he certainly has that joy that will allow him to hack humans with his joy. I hope one day I can teach him something *Español*. To that hacker, who with his father was always impossible: “I am a lazy hacker, Chema!!”
Today I will toast to you, *Kevin David Mitnick*.
Greetings Evil Ones!
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