The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders and Deceivers: Amazon.co.uk: Kevin D. Mitnick, William L. Simon: Books

Review

" ... a compilation of real hacking stories told to Mitnick by fellow hackers... " ("VNUnet.com, March 2005)

It would be difficult to find an author with more credibility than Mitnick to write about the art of hacking. In 1995, he was arrested for illegal computer snooping, convicted and held without bail for two years before being released in 2002. He clearly inspires unusual fear in the authorities and unusual dedication in the legions of computer security dabblers, legal and otherwise. Renowned for his use of "social engineering," the art of tricking people into revealing secure information such as passwords, Mitnick ("The Art of Deception) introduces readers to a fascinating array of pseudonymous hackers. One group of friends bilks Las Vegas casinos out of more than a million dollars by mastering the patterns inherent in slot machines; another fellow, less fortunate, gets mixed up with a presumed al-Qaeda- style terrorist; and a prison convict leverages his computer skills to communicate with the outside world, unbeknownst to his keepers. Mitnick's handling of these engrossing tales is exemplary, for which credit presumably goes to his coauthor, writing pro Simon. Given the complexity (some would say obscurity) of the material, the authors avoid the pitfall of drowning readers in minutiae. Uniformly readable, the stories-- some are quite exciting-- will impart familiar lessons to security pros while introducing lay readers to an enthralling field of inquiry. "Agent, David Fugate. (Mar.) ("Publishers Weekly, February 14, 2005)

Infamous criminal hacker turned computer security consultant Mitnick offers an expert sequel to his best-sellingThe Art of Deception, this time supplying real-life rather than fictionalized stories of contemporary hackers sneaking into corporate servers worldwide. Each chapter begins with a computer crime story that reads like a suspense novel; it is a little unnerving to learn how one's bank account is vulnerable to digital thieves or how hackers with an interest in gambling can rake in thousands of dollars in just minutes at a compromised slot machine. The hack revealed, Mitnick then walks readers step by step through a prevention method. Much like Deception, this book illustrates that hacking techniques can penetrate corporate and government systems protected by state-of-the-art security.
Mitnick's engaging writing style combines intrigue, entertainment, and education. As with Deception, information technology professionals can learn how to detect and prevent security breaches, while informed readers can sit back and enjoy the stories of cybercrime. Recommended for most public and academic libraries. --Joe Accardi, William Rainey Harper Coll. Lib., Palatine, IL ("Library Journal, January 15, 2005)

Product Description

Hacker extraordinaire Kevin Mitnick delivers the explosive encore to his bestselling The Art of Deception
Kevin Mitnick, the world′s most celebrated hacker, now devotes his life to helping businesses and governments combat data thieves, cybervandals, and other malicious computer intruders. In his bestselling The Art of Deception, Mitnick presented fictionalized case studies that illustrated how savvy computer crackers use "social engineering" to compromise even the most technically secure computer systems. Now, in his new book, Mitnick goes one step further, offering hair–raising stories of real–life computer break–ins–and showing how the victims could have prevented them. Mitnick′s reputation within the hacker community gave him unique credibility with the perpetrators of these crimes, who freely shared their stories with him–and whose exploits Mitnick now reveals in detail for the first time, including:

A group of friends who won nearly a million dollars in Las Vegas by reverse–engineering slot machines
Two teenagers who were persuaded by terrorists to hack into the Lockheed Martin computer systems
Two convicts who joined forces to become hackers inside a Texas prison
A "Robin Hood" hacker who penetrated the computer systems of many prominent companies–andthen told them how he gained access

With riveting "you are there" descriptions of real computer break–ins, indispensable tips on countermeasures security professionals need to implement now, and Mitnick′s own acerbic commentary on the crimes he describes, this book is sure to reach a wide audience–and attract the attention of both law enforcement agencies and the media.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

An interesting read but requires technical knowhow in parts. 3 Aug 2005

By Ms. J. S. Evans

Format:Hardcover

I enjoyed this book. I was very much looking forward to it after reading The Art of Deception. This book follows the same format, with 11 chapters detailing a number of hackers/security consultants experiences breaking into systems in various ways. Unlike the Art of Deception which concentrated purely on social engineering techniques, this book (barring one chapter on social engineering) is largely more technical, detailing hack attacks from information gathering stage through to the hack itself and reporting (if this is done!). A couple of chapters do require technical knowledge, as whilst Mitnick describes a few technical terms, this certainly isn't done comprehensively to allow a novice to fully understand what is going on. As one other reviewer said, Mitnick does intersperse all the 'stories' with experiences from his own life, and whilst this could be construed as egotistical, I found it refreshing and often very funny. Each chapter also details how firms can protect against each attack mentioned, which is very useful, and makes this more than just another hacker culture reference.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

A beautiful Insight Into The Exploits Of Hackers 4 Sep 2006

By Mr. L. F. Cash

This book is an amazing insight into the exploits and techniques used

by hackers, crackers and social engineers! it really is a truly gripping read which makes you think "Oh I'll read just one more chapter" I don't think I could pick out any real negative points in the book it was consistent throughout providing not only the great stories of the hacks but also offering some wonderful information,

this really is an absolute MUST for any IT or security fanatic and is well worth the money to add such an excellent book to your shelves!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

This book is made of Win and Good 12 Feb 2006

By David Tonhofer

A very interesting collection of stories if you want to look over the shoulders of people who one day may fancy "0wning you". You can get a fell for what they are capable of. Especially regarding patience, single-mindedness and inventiveness in worrying the locks - physical and virtual - until they break. Or in finding that one passage that non-one thought manageable, discoverable or exploitable. Reads like good heist stories without the steamy and ultra-violent parts. And with well-meaning advice to boot.

Some notions of networking required, but neophythes don't need to fear: the authors don't leave you hanging and try to explain the basics - sometimes not too successfully, but then this *is* a hairy subject. Hard-core network admins will not be surprised by anything in here but will get a view of the 'bigger picture' that lies beyond the suspicious activity seen in the log files.

The stories related in the book have, according to the authors, been well-checked an corroborated as explained in the preface. Technically they are absolutely believable.

So what do you get for your money:

Chapter 1: Buy a video poker machine, reverse-engineer it, find out it's predictable then make big bucks in Vegas.

Chapter 2: Try to break into the gov'nmt while being egged on by real (or fake?) Pakistani terrorists.

Chapter 3: Build your own Internet connection from inside prison while running rings around the wardens. The Shawshank Redemption, a bit differently.

Chapter 4: Break into Boeing while there is a computer forensics class in progress. Bad idea!

Chapter 5: The famous Adrian Lamo in action. The New York Times' network is opened up. The Gray Lady then goes into payback mode.

Chapter 6: Your company wants a penetration test? Think twice, you may get more than you bargained for. (There should be contest for guessing at the Real Names of the companies mentioned. Hmmm?)

Chapter 7: You bank is secure, right? Actually, no!

Chapter 8: Hello, operations? I thought this machine where we had our source code was secure. Now it's on a warez site!

Chapter 9: Hacking for profit: A forgotten console cable around a firewall and 'PC Anywhere' carelessly installed on a mobile computer eventually brings about the targeted companies's undoing.

Chapter 10: Social engineering. Ok, so we have seen this in Mitnick's previous volume.

Chapter 11: Odds and sods (i.e. assorted hacks).

Contrary to what wombatboy1975 says, Mitnick keeps the ego firmly in check (compare this to his erstwhile antagonists, the 'duo terrible' Shimomura/Markoff whose book was made unreadable among others by ego inflation).

The conclusion that you can draw from the stories is that hackers are not unlike a flu virus. If there is a surface protein that one of them can lock unto, one of them might do it tomorrow. Or never. Or maybe just not on your watch.

Work on reducing your systems's cross-section. And good luck.