Kevin Mitnick

Kevin David Mitnick (born August 6, 1963) is an American computer security consultant, author and hacker, best known for his high-profile 1995 arrest and later five years in prison for various computer and communications-related crimes.

Mitnick's pursuit, arrest, trial, and sentence along with the associated journalism, books and films were all controversial.

He now runs a security firm named Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC that helps test a company's security strengths, weaknesses, and potential loopholes. He is also the Chief Hacking Officer of the security awareness training company KnowBe4, as well as an active advisory board member at Zimperium, a firm that develops a mobile intrusion prevention system.

Life and career

Early life

Mitnick grew up in Los Angeles and attended James Monroe High School. He was enrolled at Los Angeles Pierce College and USC. For a time, he worked as a receptionist for Stephen S. Wise Temple.

Computer hacking

At age 13, Mitnick used social engineering and dumpster diving to bypass the punch card system used in the Los Angeles bus system. After he convinced a bus driver to tell him where he could buy his own ticket punch "for a school project", he was able to ride any bus in the greater LA area using unused transfer slips he found in a dumpster next to the bus company garage. Social engineering later became his primary method of obtaining information, including user-names and passwords and modem phone numbers.

Hacker

Hacker may refer to:

Technology

Entertainment

Kevin

Kevin (/ˈkɛv.ɪn/; Irish: Caoimhín [kiː.vʲiːnʲ], Middle Irish: Caoimhghín [kəiṽʲ.ʝiːnʲ], Old Irish: Cóemgein [koiṽʲ.ɣʲinʲ], Scottish Gaelic: Caomhainn, Latin: Coemgenus) is a male first name of Goidelic origin. Among the earliest famous bearers of the name was Saint Kevin, although Kevin is not a biblical name. Caoimhghín derives from the Irish caomh (Old Irish cóem) "kind, honest, handsome" and -gin (Old Irish gein) "birth". Kevin influenced the similarly Irish-derived Kelvin, as well as the Latin Calvin. "Kevin" is one of the top 100 male baby names in Chile, France, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden and the United States. It can also be spelled Kevyn, Keven, or Kevan.

In the United Kingdom, its popularity peaked during the 1950s and 1960s, when it was frequently among the 20 most popular male first names, but by the 1990s it had fallen out of the top 100. In France, the name was very popular during the 1980s and 1990s, especially in the lower class. There is wide variation both on the pronunciation and accentation. A more Franco-Celtic pronunciation is often written as Kévin, while a consciously Anglo-American pronunciation is written without the accent. For example, French horseman Kevin Staut's and French runner Kévin Hautcœur's official websites differ, though the French media may pronounce both names similarly.

Tesla Model S

The Tesla Model S is a full-sized all-electric five-door, luxury liftback, produced by Tesla Motors, and introduced in June 2012. It scored a perfect 5.0 NHTSA automobile safety rating. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official range for the 2012 Model S Performance model equipped with an 85 kWh (310 MJ) battery pack is 265 miles (426 km), higher than any other electric car at the time. EPA rates its energy consumption at 237.5 watt·hour per kilometer (38 kWh/100 mi or 24 kWh/100 km) for a combined fuel economy of 89 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (2.64 L/100 km or 107 mpg_-imp).

The Model S became the first electric car to top the monthly new car sales ranking in any country, twice leading in Norway, in September and again in December 2013; and also in Denmark in December 2015. Global Model S sales passed the 100,000 unit milestone in December 2015.

The Model S ranked as the world's best selling plug-in electric vehicle in 2015, up from second best in 2014. The Model S also ranked as the top selling plug-in electric car in the U.S. in 2015.As of December 2015, the leading markets are the United States with a 60% share of global sales and Norway with 9.4%. Other leading country markets are China, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland .As of December 2015, the Model S ranks as the world's second best selling plug-in car in history after the Nissan Leaf.

Freedom Downtime

Freedom Downtime is a 2001 documentary film sympathetic to the convicted computer hacker Kevin Mitnick, directed by Emmanuel Goldstein and produced by 2600 Films.

The documentary centers on the fate of Mitnick, who is claimed to have been misrepresented in the feature film Takedown (2000) produced by Miramax and adapted from the book by the same name by Tsutomu Shimomura and John Markoff, which is based on disputed events. The film also documents a number of computer enthusiasts who drive across the United States searching for Miramax representatives and demonstrating their discontent with certain aspects of the bootleg script of Takedown they had acquired. One of their major points of criticism was that the script ended with Mitnick being convicted to serve a long-term prison sentence, while in reality, at the time the film's production, Mitnick had not yet even had a trial but nonetheless was incarcerated for five years without bail in a high-security facility. Freedom Downtime also touches on what happened to other hackers after being sentenced. The development of the Free Kevin movement is also covered.