World's greatest hacker Kevin Mitnick to give NZ a cyber kick

The man who was once the FBI's most-wanted hacker will visit New Zealand to raise awareness about the threat cybercrime poses to organisations.

Kevin Mitnick has hacked some of the world's most well-guarded systems and has reinvented himself as a cybersecurity consultant for Fortune 500 companies.

He will address business leaders in Auckland on how "one foot in the door is all it takes" to threaten the stability of an organisation.

A live-hacking demonstration by Mitnick will show how multiple devices can be exploited in a display that can show organisations their system vulnerabilities.

From the 1970s up until his last arrest in 1995 Mitnick eluded and bypassed corporate security safeguards and penetrated systems of corporations such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, Digital Equipment Corporation, Motorola, Netcom, and Nokia.

He is now a "white hat hacker" and the leader of the world's top security penetration testing team. The team is contracted to hack into corporations and identify their weaknesses.

The government of Ecuador engaged Mitnick's security team when its presidential election was at risk of being stolen by hackers.

Kevin Mitnick is coming to New Zealand. Photo / Supplied

The white hat hackers were able to protect and monitor the systems that tabulated Ecuador's 2013 elections to prevent tampering and manipulation.

Vulnerabilities were assessed, and security was improved so the elections went smoothly and all unwanted activities were blocked.

Mitnick's event will be on August 22 at the SkyCity Convention Centre. Tickets available here.