Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker [Hardcover]

Kevin Mitnick (Author), Steve Wozniak (Foreword), William L. Simon (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2011

Kevin Mitnick was the most elusive computer break-in artist in history. He accessed computers and networks at the world's biggest companies--and however fast the authorities were, Mitnick was faster, sprinting through phone switches, computer systems, and cellular networks. He spent years skipping through cyberspace, always three steps ahead and labeled unstoppable. But for Kevin, hacking wasn't just about technological feats-it was an old fashioned confidence game that required guile and deception to trick the unwitting out of valuable information.

Driven by a powerful urge to accomplish the impossible, Mitnick bypassed security systems and blazed into major organizations including Motorola, Sun Microsystems, and Pacific Bell. But as the FBI's net began to tighten, Kevin went on the run, engaging in an increasingly sophisticated cat and mouse game that led through false identities, a host of cities, plenty of close shaves, and an ultimate showdown with the Feds, who would stop at nothing to bring him down.

Ghost in the Wires is a thrilling true story of intrigue, suspense, and unbelievable escape, and a portrait of a visionary whose creativity, skills, and persistence forced the authorities to rethink the way they pursued him, inspiring ripples that brought permanent changes in the way people and companies protect their most sensitive information.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Intriguing, insightful and extremely educational into the mind of one who truly mastered the art of social engineering with the use of a computer and modern day technologies. I strongly believe that one can learn a great deal about protecting themselves once they understand how another one perpetrates the crime." (Frank W. Abagnale, author of Catch Me if You Can)

About the Author

Kevin Mitnick, the world's most famous (former) computer hacker, has been the subject of countless news and magazine articles, the idol of thousands of would-be hackers, and a one-time "most wanted" criminal of cyberspace, on the run from the bewildered Feds. Now a security consultant, he has spoken to audiences at conventions around the world, been on dozens of major national TV and radio shows, and even testified in front of Congress. He is the author of The Art of Deception and The Art of Intrusion.

Co-author William Simon is a bestselling co-author of numerous books, including iCon (the biography of Steve Jobs) and Kevin Mitnick's previous two books. He has also written for USA Today and The Washington Post and been interviewed on CNBC, CNN, NPR and by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Time, Newsweek, and many other publications.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (August 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316037702
• ISBN-13: 978-0316037709
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.4 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (462 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Computers & Technology > Business & Management > Biographies
  • #43 in Books > Computers & Technology > Internet & Web Culture > Hacking
  • #91 in Books > Computers & Technology > Networking > Network Security

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

103 of 112 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 400 pages gone in two evenings. August 8, 2011

By Aaron J. Maynard

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If I wouldn't have started to halucinate at 2am from being so tired after reading for 8 hours, I would have read this entire book through in one sitting. The book isn't overly technical yet is a huge eye opener for anyone who isn't intimately familiar with the details of Kevin Mitnick as the most wanted hacker of the 90's. If you have a moderate interest in computing, you'll encounter many jaw dropping moments in reaction to the clever, often brazen and sometimes paranoid escapades captured in the book. Towards the 3/4 mark in the book, the story gets a bit drawn out, but was completely well worth the read.

71 of 82 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Old Game, New Tools August 1, 2011

By takingadayoff TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

When it comes to true crime, I'm pretty squeamish. Nothing violent, please. Clever and devious are what I'm looking for. Frank Abagnale's Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake is one of the best, and it's hard not to compare any subsequent caper story with it.

Ghost in the Wires doesn't reach the level of audacity of Catch Me if You Can - impersonating technicians over the phone doesn't rise to the sheer nerve of a teenager impersonating an airline pilot or a doctor, as Abagnale did, and getting away with it. But Ghost in the Wires goes well beyond the adolescent bragfest of phone hacks that it could have been.

I think this is largely due to the co-writer, William L. Simon. Kevin Mitnick describes in his acknowledgments, how he and Simon argued over how detailed and technical the book should be, and apparently Simon prevailed. There's enough detail to explain how the scams were possible, but not so specific as to send the non-programmer into a hexadecimal stupor.

Another big plus is that many of the hacks depended as much on what Mitnick calls "social engineering" as on specialist knowledge. Unlike the stereotypical computer nerd, Mitnick was as comfortable and proficient at schmoozing people as he was writing code - he could talk his way into places that were restricted and convince people he was entitled to classified information. These were scams anyone can understand.

Mitnick also succeeds at not crossing the line from confident to insufferable, which is another pitfall of true crime tell-alls. Perhaps we can once again thank William Simon for this achievement.

I expected to skim this 400-page book but ended up reading every word.... Mitnick was unbelievably audacious, and he says he never profited from his exploits. Knowing the risks (especially after he had already spent an unpleasant stretch in jail), how could he continue to risk getting caught again? He claims he was addicted to hacking, and while that seemed to me a sorry excuse for criminal behavior, it started to seem like the only possible explanation.

Whatever Mitnick's reasons, Ghost in the Wires is as much fun to read as any summer thriller. Read more ›

42 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Highest Adventure Possible for any Security Professional August 15, 2011

By AirDisa

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

A fascination with hacking goes back pretty far for me (I'm an old bat). I loved my experiences reading about Kevin Mitnick, even when he made the papers while on the go. The papers were full of hyperbole even then. I knew to reserve my excitement and hold out for Kevin's own words. My patience is rewarded with this book.

I can't help but enjoy reading about someone who has the adept social engineering of a film noir gumshoe, or the undercover detective, who applied it growing up and getting into trouble. Like Kevin, I knew The Three Days of the Condor. I learned it was a favorite of his, and I clung to this fact which fell through the sieve of newspaper myth. Free Kevin!

Now read Kevin's story, where you'll find enough detail to keep any heart racing. Whether or not you have enough awareness for some of the bits, or rely on the plain language, the story can strike sheer terror in the hearts of those who don't know much of anything about bits and bytes. For those who do, this book contains updated method nomenclature and references to security protocol that it's valuable from that perspective.

Kevin possesses the kind of curiosity to dig and uncover gems of hidden info for esoteric purposes in order to unlock a power only a successful hacker knows about. Social engineering is akin to the confidence game, but different all the same when it involves computer networks. The best hackers are never caught, never known about. Kevin has a different distinction: The first and the grandest adventure story, ever.

You don't need to be a hacker or security professional to appreciate and learn from it. Today, security is serious business and hackers typically have bad or misguided intent.... Kevin's motivation was harmless fun at the expense of a system, and honest curiosity which was not rewarded with a government security detail. Fear prevailed then, as hacking was an unknown phenomenon. An innocent motive seemed totally suspect in a court setting.

One frequent result of being a trail blazer is its potential costs. When playing around with the law, this can end in time set aside from society. The NYTimes columnist ironically exercised his own opportunistic free market exploit to establish a mythology around Kevin that ruined any chance for freedom. Kevin emerged from lock down to write the correction that I hold in my hands. The highest adventure possible for any security professional. Read more ›

62 of 76 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars This Book Really Bothers Me - Mitnick Is Talented, But He Can't Have It Both Ways December 30, 2011

By D. Scott VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I know that many people love Ghost in the Wires, but this book really bothers me. It's very difficult to be sympathetic towards Kevin Mitnick, who continually prevails upon his readers to let him have it both ways.

I will leave whatever social sickness the brilliant Kevin Mitnick has to the mental health professionals, but suffice it to say that his writing in Ghost in the Wires is a terrific nonfiction example of an "unreliable narrator." Throughout the book, Mitnick does the same things over and over again and is surprised when he repeatedly gets caught. He hurts his mother, grandmother, wife, and friends over and over again with his illegal hacking activities, says he regrets doing it each time, but then turns around and does it to them again. Mitnick is upset when he is blamed for things he "didn't do" and when he is "double crossed," but he freely admits to dozens of other computer break ins and instances where he compromises the trust of others using "social engineering" techniques, ridicules them for trusting him, and then betrays that trust. Mitnick says he never took money from hacking, but now of course he's making money from writing this and other books as well as from promoting his computer security company based on his (illegally obtained) skills. Mitnick is all over the place.

In one scene Mitnick is severely critical of prosecutors who use "dirty tactics" to put him behind bars, but then he continues to use his own dirty tactics while behind those bars.... For instance, Mitnick is contemptuous of being put in solitary confinement so he can't "phone freak" (a form or hacking using an ordinary telephone), but then uses his severely limited (and monitored) prison pay phone time to phone freak anyway by dialing behind his back as a guard watches, apparently just for the thrill of it and with complete disregard for any consequences.

Even after he is apprehended multiple times, Mitnick still doesn't "get it." He is condescending to and openly critical of the FBI, local law enforcement, and the media throughout the book for their lax procedures, but still doesn't seem to understand why breaking and entering highly sensitive computer systems is wrong and dangerous. When they find his stolen database of thousands of credit card numbers, he doesn't understand why he should be prosecuted for possessing them because he didn't actually use them to steal money. "That would be wrong," he says. Another instance: he spends most of the book using cloned cell phones to make "free" calls all over the world, which are billed to unaware random consumers. This form of theft, as well as repeated breaking and entering, both electronically and physically, seems to be viewed as no problem.

While on the run Mitnick takes great pains to steal and set up new identities in Las Vegas, Denver, Seattle, and Raleigh NC, but each time he goes back to his old hacking and cell phone tricks only to get discovered again and again. In one scene he finally figures out that he is being tracked electronically by the authorities when he uses his cell phone, and is actually being followed by a helicopter that zeroes in on him every time he makes a call. Does he then stop making cell calls? No. Does he stop hacking? No. Even when he is suspicious of being compromised on the phone, he still keeps calling and talking "for hours" to the informant, and yet feels betrayed when they turn over what they have to the authorities.

Mitnick seems to blame everyone but himself most of the time for having the unmitigated gall to trust him through his so called "Social Engineering," which he both repeatedly relies on and harshly criticizes his marks for falling for. He even blames others who actually create the computer systems he feels compelled to compromise. It is much more difficult to create than it is to tear down, and instead of compromising these networks for "trophies," one is left wondering what the incredibly talented Mitnick could have done if he had spent as much time and energy building systems instead of breaking into and stealing information from them.

Mitnick's behavior is deeply disturbing. He writes, "It always seems strange to me that my captors had such trouble grasping the deep satisfaction that could be derived from a game of skill....what it was worth didn't matter to me. So what was the nature of my crime, that I allegedly had access?" It is not a game, and Mitnick completely misses the point, even now, after serving years in prison and being released. Mitnick is obsessive about his own privacy, and yet is utterly indignant about others' attention to and expectation of theirs? It just doesn't wash. Read more ›