My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker

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.

Kevin Mitnick was infamous to us nerds in the 90s, and I remember reading a bit about him back then when I was young. The image that comes to mind is the movie Hackers, and Swordfish from the ridiculous punching into keyboards and breaking into the NSA. In reality it isn’t like that, its just the flaws that these systems that Kevin managed to figure out and take full advantage of them. Starting from the 80s all the way to the mid 90s, and people were scared from what they didn’t know and they didn’t know what hacking was so they feared it. This story is far from technical and its rather exciting as you see how he dodged so many companies & the FBI and how he managed to infiltrate so many companies. Now its an even bigger reality we face a totally digital world and it is far from secure, it was a very entertaining read and picked up pace as it went along and you see what the government will do when they want someone, and a lot of laws are broken along the way.

Link: Amazon
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