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)

A must listen for those interested in IT security

Kevin Mitnick's story told in full for the first time. An almost unbelievable story of high tech deception.

However, I wish they had had Kevin Mitnick read the book himself.

Excellent Book

What did you love best about Ghost in the Wires?

Absolutely excellent book, well written, great story, and you don't have to be a technical person to understand it as Kevin does an excellent job at telling the story.

What other book might you compare Ghost in the Wires to and why?

The Art of Deception (also by Kevin Mitnick) has much of the same subject matter but is not nearly as entertaining as Ghost In The Wires.

Have you listened to any of Ray Porter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I think Ray Porter also read

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I wanted to listen to it all in one sitting but I was unable to since it was 14 hours long. I did complete it in one weekend though. Excellent book.

Any additional comments?

Buy it. You won't regret it.

so very interesting, so detailed

Absolutely love this book. I find myself wanting to know more and doing research outside of the book to better understand what's going on as some old technologies talked about were from before I was born.
Very interesting and can be a bit technical, very detailed and wow. I love this book. Highly recommend this!

Probably my favorite Audible book so far

Have you listened to any of Ray Porter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but he's an excellent reader and I will look for more books performed by him in the future.

Any additional comments?

Great book, great reading.

Amazing

What made the experience of listening to Ghost in the Wires the most enjoyable?

If I were in a seat, I'd have been on the edge of it the whole way. Great story.

What about Ray Porter’s performance did you like?

The best narration I've ever experienced. Ray became Kevin. Kevin Mitnick himself could not have told the story better.

very compelling book

I really enjoyed the hacker stories. very well done and work the read for anyone interested in hacking, computers, phone phreaking, etc.

superb entertainment for the IT person!

couldn't wait to hear what would happen around the next corner. I saw the FREE KEVIN bumper stickers but didn't get it until now.

Great story!

Great story! i loved every minute of it. I work in thus feild and I was active duty military at the time Mr Mitnick was living these events. I remeber the Free Mitnick movement and how he was an inspiration to so many of the folks that work in this industry. I can't wait to read his other books.

Great Story

The narrator captured the emotions of Kevin Mitnick & at times it felt as if it was Mitnick narrating the story.

Great story!

Great story, great narrator voice. I found myself really into the story. I could picture myself there in the story. Would recommend to a friend.