Documentation
About

About

Alex Kasper (born Alexis C Kasperavičius, April 14, 1968) is an American entrepreneur, cybersecurity educator, and video game producer. He is best known for producing the 1995 video game Return Fire, co-founding the security consultancy Defensive Thinking with Kevin Mitnick, and co-developing the Certified Social Engineering Prevention Specialist (CSEPS) training program.1

Early Life

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Kasper moved with his family to Los Angeles as a child. By age 13 he had developed a strong interest in telephones and communication systems. He met Kevin Mitnick while seeking technical advice, beginning a long friendship and collaboration. He studied classical French horn performance at the University of Southern California.1

Media and Entertainment

Return Fire

From 1993 to 1995, Kasper produced Return Fire, a vehicular combat game developed by Silent Software for the 3DO platform (later ported to PlayStation and Windows). In addition to producing, he served as sound designer and music supervisor.12 The game received critical acclaim and won the 3DO Two-Player Game of the Year award.3

Eyeball Eddie

In 2001, Kasper co-produced the short dark comedy Eyeball Eddie, directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum at USC’s School of Cinema-Television. The film starred Martin Starr, Michael Rosenbaum, and M. Emmet Walsh. It premiered at Slamdance and other festivals, winning several awards.45

Technology, Hacking, and Security

Kasper was involved in the Los Angeles hacker scene in the 1980s and 1990s alongside Kevin Mitnick. Mitnick’s memoir Ghost in the Wires and other sources describe Kasper’s participation in social engineering and technical activities, though he was never solely focused on hacking.6 In a 2005 Wired interview, Kasper admitted he “crossed the line a few times”.1 He later stepped back from unauthorized hacking after recognizing the human costs of privacy violations.1

He appeared in the documentary Freedom Downtime (2001) and served as a technical consultant on the 2000 film Takedown.7

Radio and Media Appearances

Kasper and Mitnick co-hosted the weekly radio program The DarkSide of the Internet on KFI-AM 640 in Los Angeles.8 They also appeared together on Off the Hook (2002) and Coast to Coast AM (2006).9 10

Defensive Thinking and CSEPS

After Mitnick’s release from prison, the two co-founded the security consultancy Defensive Thinking in Los Angeles. They developed the Certified Social Engineering Prevention Specialist (CSEPS) program, one of the early professional certifications focused on defending against social engineering attacks.1 11 12 They delivered training to corporations, government agencies, and military organizations including the U.S. Air Force and Marines.11 13 14

Kasper is acknowledged in Mitnick’s books The Art of Deception, The Art of Intrusion, and Ghost in the Wires.15

Legal Proceedings

In 2006, Kasper was the lead plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit Alexander Kasper v. Pacific Bell Telephone Company, related to the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping scandal. The case was later settled.16

Entrepreneurship and Later Work

In 2000, Kasper co-founded Nexspace, an early coworking and flexible office space in Westwood, Los Angeles, where he served as Chief Technical Officer.17 18 Kevin Mitnick worked from Nexspace while writing The Art of Deception, and Defensive Thinking also operated from there.1 19

In the late 2000s, Kasper was Vice President of Technology for Barkley Court Reporters, where he wrote and lectured on digital signatures and transcript authentication.20 By the mid-2010s he had relocated to Berlin and worked in international trade and security for the food and perfume industries.21

Kasper Exchange

In 2010, Kasper co-founded Kasper Exchange with his brother Nicholas, a wholesale trade broker specializing in spices, essential oils, flavoring compounds, and related products in the flavor and fragrance industry. The company operates as an agent for buyers and sellers, providing fee- and commission-based services covering sale, testing, documentation, delivery, and payment. Kasper Exchange is based in Miami, Florida.

Naturesign

Drawing on his experience in both the flavor and fragrance industry and enterprise document systems, Kasper founded Naturesign, a regulatory document generation platform built specifically for flavor and fragrance producers. Launched in early 2024, Naturesign automates the creation of compliance documents — a single product sample can require up to 30 customized regulatory documents — and delivers a full document set in under three minutes. The platform runs on Salesforce and has worked with partners including MCI Miritz, one of the world’s largest citrus oil suppliers.

External Links

  1. Patrick Gray, A Tale of Two Hackers, Wired, June 6, 2005. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. Return Fire Credits (3DO), MobyGames. ↩︎

  3. And The Winner Is… 3DO Awards Honor Best of the Best for 1995, Business Wire, December 19, 1995. ↩︎

  4. Eyeball Eddie Production Information Packet, Pupil Productions, 1999. ↩︎

  5. Contemporary festival coverage: Salt Lake Tribune, Birmingham News, Newsday (2000–2001). ↩︎

  6. Kevin Mitnick with William L. Simon, Ghost in the Wires (Little, Brown and Company, 2011). ↩︎

  7. Freedom Downtime (2001); Takedown (2000) end credits. ↩︎

  8. KFI-AM 640, DarkSide of the Internet, archived 2001. ↩︎

  9. Off the Hook, October 16, 2002, WBAI / 2600. ↩︎

  10. Coast to Coast AM, April 30, 2006. ↩︎

  11. Ex-Hacker Kevin Mitnick Teaches From Experience, The Wall Street Journal, October 15, 2003. ↩︎ ↩︎

  12. Defensive Thinking press archive, 2004. ↩︎

  13. After five years in jail, ex-computer hacker Mitnick changes sides, Ventura County Star, January 19, 2003. ↩︎

  14. Munir Kotadia, Human firewall a crucial defence, ZDNet, April 13, 2005. ↩︎

  15. Acknowledgments in The Art of Deception (2002), The Art of Intrusion (2005), and Ghost in the Wires (2011). ↩︎

  16. Alexander Kasper v. Pacific Bell Telephone Company, Los Angeles County Superior Court (settled); Hollywood Reporter coverage. ↩︎

  17. Nexspace press release, November 27, 2000. ↩︎

  18. Marilyn Zelinsky, The Inspired Workspace, Rockport, 2002, pp. 92–94. ↩︎

  19. Hacker Hopes Honest Venture Clicks, Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2003. ↩︎

  20. Secrets of the Digital Signature, Journal of Court Reporting, November–December 2008. ↩︎

  21. Petra Lang, Darum sind Coworking-Spaces gerade für Start-ups attraktiv, Berliner Morgenpost, January 14, 2017. ↩︎