Ghost in the Wires

Executive Summary: I enjoyed this book, but it may only appeal to computer/phone geeks, or True Crime junkies.

Full Review
I ended up rereading this book with a few friends after attempting to pick something they would hopefully enjoy that they wouldn't have read otherwise. The jury is still out, but it looks like I might have done a poor job. I enjoyed the reread, but this book won't be for everyone.

I've always been fascinated by the early days of computers and the internet, especially where computer cracking is involved. The late 70s and the 80s were basically the wild west. The idea of networked computers was so new that government was slow to react to those who took advantage.

When they did finally react, it was often to an extreme, which I think is evident in some of the treatment Mr. Mitnick receives from law enforcement. Some of the rumors that developed around him over the years were pretty ludicrous. Not all of them however, and he could be a scary person to cross.

I've read many books on the subject over the years. It's one of the few non-fiction subjects I'm interested in enough to read on my own away from school assigned reading. I even wrote a term paper on it in High School. How I managed to convince my teacher to let me read a bunch of books on computer crime, I don't really remember at this point.

It's hard to read about computer crime and not come across Kevin Mitnick. He's arguably the most famous, or at least the most notorious computer “hacker” of his time.

I find it interesting that Mr. Mitnick has embraced the new definition of Hacker. In fact he doesn't even bother to explain the difference. Back when he was active he would have been considered more of a Phone Phreak (which he does cover a bit) or a Cracker.

Hacker used to be a nickname for obsessive computer types that would dig into depths of systems and code looking for the nooks and crannies.

Maybe he chooses to call himself a Hacker because he's trying to appeal to a wider audience that wouldn't know the difference. Or maybe it's because he doesn't seem to feel like what he did was all that wrong, and might self identify with the original definition.

While Mr. Mitnick's computer skills are no doubt impressive, I think most of his success can be attributed more to his Social Engineering skills rather than his technical ability. That and his ability to exploit the things he learns.

Social Engineering for those unfamiliar, can be defined as the art of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information.

It essentially a different way of saying to con someone, or the term used where computers and/or technology is involved. It relies heavily on knowledge of your targets security procedures and vulnerabilities. Often time people are the weakest link in computer security.

Most of what Mr. Mitnick does is built on the work of others, exploiting bugs found by other people and the trusting and/or lazy nature of people rather than discovering new flaws on his own.

He manages to obtain the source code for numerous operating systems over the years, but often time doesn't bother to spend any time looking at the code, he simply obtains it like a trophy.

I can only theorize that he's incredibly charismatic. Reading this book he doesn't come off as a very likable person to me, yet people seem to jump to help him, even as he abuses their trust and love. That's probably part of why he's so successful at Social Engineering.

One of my friends describe the book as repetitive. For someone not interested in the technology aspect, I can see how this is true. At a high level he used a lot of the same techniques to break into more and more complex systems, especially as the level of computer knowledge and security practices continued to evolve over the years.

He tries to explain the various technical terms as he goes, and I had no trouble following what he wrote, but I was already familiar with a lot of the stuff ahead of time.

It might get tedious or frustrating to those without any background. Similarly it might get tedious to those with more technical knowledge as he explains what may seem like basic concepts.

The book seems to toggle between him trying to elicit sympathy from the reader for his exploits, and apologizing to the people he wronged over the years, especially his mother and grandmother.

To be fair, a lot of incorrect and overly negative things were published about Mr. Mitnick over the years, while he was legally prevented from telling his side of things.

Like I said in my original review, I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle of the two extremes.

Despite the negatives, his story is an incredibly unique, and to me at least an interesting one. Parts of it read like it's straight from a spy novel. He uses his abilities not only to hide from his pursuers, but to spy on them to see how close they are getting.

In the end his ego, and his inability to stop breaking into computer systems proves to be his downfall. He may not think so, but considering the fear he elicited in those pursuing and prosecuting him, he was incredibly lucky to come away like he did, and now to have a successful business where people pay him to do the kinds of things he went to jail for.


——————Original Review——————
Forgot to add this book. I noticed after putting another book on my shelves.

I recall really enjoying this. After reading several books biased against Mitnick, it was nice to contrast that with something biased for him instead.

It's hard to know what really happened. I'm sure it lies somewhere in the middle.

Either way, it is a pretty interesting read and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in computers, or social engineering. It really is scary the kinds of things he can do.