My dear friend, Kevin Mitnick, has passed after a hard fought battle with pancreatic cancer.

I could tell stories about this guy all day long. He was both loved and hated, but I’d say the people who think they hate him just haven’t really tried to understand him at all. A lot of bad and entirely untrue stuff has been written about Kevin, most notably the movie ‘Takedown’ which was a ridiculous fabrication.

A lot of people drew inspiration from Kevin’s insatiable drive to get through defenses. I saw, first hand, how he never once failed to gain the crown jewels of a company once he was authorized to do his thing. It was amazing. The way he took his skills from criminal usage and turned them into a productive business was inspiring, too.

RIP, Kev.