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)

Fantastic!

This was an incredible book! I very much enjoyed the stories and the narrator did a great job conveying the feelings of Mitnick. I highly recommend and will be listening to more books by this author. Enjoy!

Fascinating!

Well written and narrated account of Kevin Mitnic. Conveying the depth and rationales of his notorious exploits. Enjoyed this book immensely!

Couldn't stop listening!!!

Any additional comments?

Amazing story - well told and well read! You don't have to agree to or like it, but the adventure is sure as hell fun!

Scary reality of the world of hacking

This is a scary, but a great story of the insights into one of the world's biggest hackers in the 80s and 90s.

Kevin Mitnick takes you on a fascinating, and somewhat scary, journey of his life and his habits. He has an interesting perspective on the real impact he had, perhaps because of how he rationalises what he did.

Essentially though, this is a story of someone breaking the law, and the insights do provide any reader with food for thought on security for the internet, computers and phones.

I would recommend this book to anyone.

Awesome book, Great story.

Any additional comments?

Great story, it takes you on a ride. The story itself is vey compelling and even though it can get a little technical (which I love) those who aren't into technology can still keep up. I love hacker stories, and this one is the best I've read so far.

Time Well Spent

I wasn't sure what to expect but it held my attention throughout. It makes you think about how much this must occur that we never know about. It made me want to learn more about this subject. Well worth it!

Roller-coaster Ride

Roller-coaster ride, in a good way. Exciting and informative. Read this. You will learn a lot along the way.

Loved it. Couldn't wait for more

Great book, well performed.

I was hesitant after some reviewers commented on the author's level of ego; I now believe that these people belong in the same group as those who couldn't grasp that it was all for the thrill of the game.

The author did a wonderful job of explaining just enough information so the reader could follow the hacks, but not so much that it felt like the reader needed to take notes.

I loved how the book had various story lines interwoven in such a way that we readers could enjoy many social engineering attacks without feeling as if they were repetitive.

I highly recommend this book. In fact, I know that I will read it again before too long.

A must read!

If your interested in information security or just tech in general this is a must read!

Great story, well read

A great story by Mitnick and Simon has been given emotion and passion in the narration by Ray Porter. I really enjoyed both book and performance.