Ghost in the Wires

My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker

By: Kevin Mitnick, William L. Simon

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

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 to 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.

©2011 Kevin Mitnick. Foreword 2011 by Steve Wozniak (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“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)

Great Narration

The Narration by Ray Porter is some of the best I've heard. The story is great and a little scary. There are points when Kevin whines about various slight or his treatment in jail, but they don't distract from the overall story. I would make this required reading for anybody that is working in Data Security.

An interesting listen, a bit technical

This was a pretty good book. I enjoyed listening to it, but at times the author got a bit technical and i could feel my eyes glassing over. The narration was decent, the story line was good. I was surprised by how many things the author was able to do in his life, and how little trouble he actually got in to, all things considered.

I couldn't stop listening!

Narration was excellent. I had to remind myself that I wasn't listening to Mitnik himself.

Technically Interesting

As someone who is not terribly familiar with hacking, it was still a very good book and entertaining to read. It was the “Catch me if you Can” of the hacking world.

Amazing story.

What an amazing story. I think I actually learned a few things. Lol I'm glad to see him now using his computer skills for good. It is very rare to hear the full story of someone who once was demonized for their curiosity and skills, but years later praised for the same exact thing.

Great audiobook

It was a well written and entertaining story about real life events. I enjoyed a lot.

fascinating, but maybe a little too much

Kevin's story is quite fascinating (and a little scary!). I very much enjoyed hearing the details of how he accomplished so many break-ins, and the wide variety of places that he was able to get information out of. However, I was expecting half of the book to be about pre-arrest illegal activity and the other half about post-jail *legal* hacking. It turns out to be approx 95% about pre-arrest hacking and just a brief mention at the end about his recent legitimate so-called ethical hacking. So I was a bit disappointed because I think it would be very interesting to hear about companies that hired him and whether he was able to break in and what they did to shore up their systems, etc. In fact, the preface describes just such an event, but then the rest of the book has no more of that. Maybe he's planning a follow-up book. Sorry this sounds so negative -- overall I thought it was a great book.

Mitnick's Best so Far

I really enjoyed this book, more than Kevin's previous. I have many Audible books but this is one of the few I literally haven't been able to stop listening to til it was completed. Even sat in the parking lot, 15 minutes late for work to finish the ending.

The narrator had perfect timing and inflection. You really thought you were listening to Kevin narrating his own book.

Some will think there is too much detail included on the computer aspects, but I enjoyed those details the most. I also had no idea how much 'social engineering' is used to 'hack' into computer systems-real eye opener there.

Also interesting, was Kevin's view point on his jail time and his 'setting the record straight' on the movie 'Take Down' and out and out lies and myths which unfairly colored his case. The 'Free Kevin' movement and other aspects of his personal life, his family who stood behind him while he was on the run really personalized the story beyond merely computer lingo.

I highly recommend this book and hope there is another one in the works soon. I'm sure I'll listen to it again.

Glad Kevin was able to turn his life around, as stated in the ending.

Excellent story

Highly recommended story on Kevin Mitnick and his life as a hacker. Narration was well done and an easy listen.

Overall, I enjoyed it

Would you consider the audio edition of Ghost in the Wires to be better than the print version?

have not read the print version

Who was your favorite character and why?

no comment

What about Ray Porter’s performance did you like?

Yes

If you could give Ghost in the Wires a new subtitle, what would it be?

Integrity in the Fog of the grey zone

Any additional comments?

Social engineering exploits provide valuable insights into the state of being human within our antiquated social & political structures & the dynamics they drive us into.