Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
30th out of 48 books
—
32 voters
The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security
The world's most infamous hacker offers an insider's view of the low-tech threats to high-tech security
Kevin Mitnick's exploits as a cyber-desperado and fugitive form one of the most exhaustive FBI manhunts in history and have spawned dozens of articles, books, films, and documentaries. Since his release from federal prison, in 1998, Mitnick has turned his life around and...more
Kevin Mitnick's exploits as a cyber-desperado and fugitive form one of the most exhaustive FBI manhunts in history and have spawned dozens of articles, books, films, and documentaries. Since his release from federal prison, in 1998, Mitnick has turned his life around and...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
October 17th 2003
by John Wiley & Sons
(first published October 2nd 2001)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
Kevin Mitnick, probably the most famous (and controversial) computer hacker of the 1990's, has spent several years of his life on the run, as well as a few years in jail. For years after leaving prison he was forbidden to log on to a computer, a prohibition he appealed successfully. He now runs a computer security business, lectures to large corporations, and has co-authored two books on computer network security.
This book focuses on the human element of computer security. Reminding us that eve...more
This book focuses on the human element of computer security. Reminding us that eve...more
Me crucé con este libro (está en la mula, por supuesto) y me lo he devorado en dos días. Hay una segunda parte, The Art of Intrusion, que parece que está incluso mejor.
Kevin Mitnick se hizo bastante famoso, para su desgracia, cuando le condenaron a unos cuantos años de cárcel por diversos delitos contra la seguridad electrónica de varias empresas y agencias estatales norteamericanas (nada grave según él, el holocausto informático según el fiscal). La Wikipedia (Kevin Mitnick, Kevin Mitnick 
) cu
This book addresses CEOs and other such people high up the corporate ladder. The book is full of sentences like "Is YOUR company safe from such attacks on your ignorant personnel?" (well, not exactly maybe... I've read the book half a year ago and this is from memory) and each time I read one of them I wanted to tear the book apart and punch the author in the face. There is also a complete chapter of nearly 100 pages which is pretty much a complete information security policy. It might be me, bu...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
A very interesting look into the ease at which one can bypass the most elaborate security system simply by asking. The book proves that it is too easy for a person to obtain almost anything, if they have the right information and ask the right person. I am a system security major, and work at a helpdesk of a very large financial corporation. The number of employees that call me and readily hand me their passwords without question is disturbing. I am a good person, and have no need for these pass...more
Fascinating read...a real wakeup call. Even if you know nothing about Social Engineering and Information Security, this book will interest you. In fact, I ESPECIALLY recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves constantly feeling intimidated or scared stiff at the idea of giving out sensitive information to ANYONE.
Knowledge is power and the best defense against the Social Engineer. So who better to learn defensive techniques from than the world's most infamous hacker and social engineer? M...more
Knowledge is power and the best defense against the Social Engineer. So who better to learn defensive techniques from than the world's most infamous hacker and social engineer? M...more
We think of computer hackers as sitting in an isolated room, endlessly probing corporate and private networks from their screen. Actually, almost all deep hacking starts with the manipulation of people to do something that allows the hacker to move to the next level. The Art of Deception tells how Mitnick used "social engineering" skills to get people to unknowingly provide critical assistance, from simply being polite and opening a secure door to setting up restricted user accounts. Having read...more
I found the most valuable sections in this book to be the policy recommendations and information security practices described in the last chapters (despite their age). The anecdotal and fictionalized scenarios were effective up to a point, but there are so many of them that it wore me down and I just started scanning them when I was about 3/4 of the way through. Mitnick's "messages" provided helpful suggestions and contextual gotchas interspersed with the social engineering/con situations, but t...more
If you don't know the name, Mitnick was a notorious hacker in the 80s. The kind who was so good that even now that he's out of jail he can't connect to the internet without violating his parole. The book focuses mainly on the social engineering aspect of hacking and is written for information security people. Most of the book describes different social engineering schemes and how to guard against them and contains a lot of interesting examples. The last couple of chapters are very boring example...more
I hugely enjoyed Mitnick's last book, The Art Of Intrusion, but this book by comparison is completely BORING. Mitnick just tells stories of people who conned companies and people over the phone and after a while, the stories get very boring and repetitive. Yeah, we get it Kevin - don't assume anything over the phone, and don't give out sensitive material to people you don't know. You don't need to bore us to death with 350 pages just to get those two central points across.[return][return]Avoid t...more
The Art of Deception is written by a hacker (or, as he calls himself, a “social engineer”) and describes the ways in which hackers can exploit human nature to bypass security measures. The book was hyped as being “like reading the climaxes of a dozen complex thrillers”, but I don’t think it lived up that hype. Although I found it interesting to read about the clever ways hackers go about getting very classified information, it wasn’t exactly edge-of-your-seat reading.
Read the rest here...
Read the rest here...
This is a fantastic book for anyone interested in social engineering. It explains some real methods that actually work to gain information. Everyone should read this book not necessarily because you're looking to exploit others, but to protect yourself from being exploited.
It does get a little technical, but nearly every term is explained quite well. This made it a little lengthy for me, simply because I was already familiar with these computer and technology terms. Other than that, it's very in...more
It does get a little technical, but nearly every term is explained quite well. This made it a little lengthy for me, simply because I was already familiar with these computer and technology terms. Other than that, it's very in...more
Human's are like bad Microsoft coding.
As I started exploring and learning about social engineering I picked up this book and started reading it. When I started reading I wasn't expecting to learn so much things just from this one book. Mitnick covered social engineering in all aspects. So many different situations, policies, how to act as social engineer are all well written and explained. After reading this book in middle of it I even picked up his documentary movie and saw how he was a black sheep and how did they treated him unfa...more
I just finished The Art of Deception by Mitnick & Simon, and it's quite good. It's justifiably considered a classic in the security field, and while some of the examples are a a little out of date, the principles hold up quite well. I found myself asking whether my projects would be vulnerable to the type of social engineering attack that Mitnick describes, and there are definitely some things that were eye-opening here. One of the key insights here is that seemingly innocuous information ca...more
This book enhanced my ‘social-engineering-awareness’ significantly and the ‘cons’ were great to read! Though I did feel bad sometimes for the conned people ;).
Sometimes the book feels dated though when talking about telephone system hackers and how they use the system for their own purposes, posing as an onsite engineer trying to get something fixed and enlisting the help of ‘colleagues’ at the phone company, because the stuff they are doing onsite is nowadays done remotely. Luckily what is done...more
Sometimes the book feels dated though when talking about telephone system hackers and how they use the system for their own purposes, posing as an onsite engineer trying to get something fixed and enlisting the help of ‘colleagues’ at the phone company, because the stuff they are doing onsite is nowadays done remotely. Luckily what is done...more
Kevin Mitnick (whose teenage exploits were speculated at in the film War Games) describes himself not as a hacker, but a social engineer- one who is able to manipulate people and events through his knowledge of the inner workings of society. In this book, Mitnick describes many scenarios- some true, some hypothetical- including bank robbery, teenage break-ins, identity theft, and corporate espionage. In each scenario, we see how, with a couple of phone calls and a few simple questions, the attac...more
The Art of Deception is one of two books by famous hacker Kevin Mitnick, the other being "The Art of Intrusion". Intrusion focuses primarily on physical or technological hacks, while this book focuses almost exclusively on social engineering attacks.
A number of problems prevented this book from being very good. The main problem is simply that Mitnick did not have enough material to fill an entire book. This book would have been better if it were shorter and simply one section in a larger book ab...more
A number of problems prevented this book from being very good. The main problem is simply that Mitnick did not have enough material to fill an entire book. This book would have been better if it were shorter and simply one section in a larger book ab...more
In The Art of Deception, [Kevin Mitnick] discusses the thing he's best at: Social Engineering. Social engineering is the term used in computer security to describe the manipulation of humans in order to break through a security barrier, and is sometimes referred to as hacking the mind.
In the first chapter of his book, usually referred to as The Lost Chapter (As it wasn't published with the final version of the book), Kevin Mitnick tries to convince his readers that he is innocent – or at least...more
In the first chapter of his book, usually referred to as The Lost Chapter (As it wasn't published with the final version of the book), Kevin Mitnick tries to convince his readers that he is innocent – or at least...more
Mitnick does a great job of conveying the problems faced by companies and private individuals every day in terms of security. The stories and anecdotes included in this book at well written and engaging. He gives clear breakdowns of not only the security failures that lead to the problems but also their root causes and methods of avoiding them yourself. This book is a definite read if you are at all interested in the mindset that a good hacker needs to have.
This had some interesting stories of how social engineering can get people to give up information, never realizing that they are giving away something vital. Not much of it was new, but it was interesting. The last portion of the book was geared towards security personnel and how they can create reasonable policies for their employees to follow. This was definitely very dry and not light reading.
Mar 02, 2013
Matt Bibby
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in corporate security
Yet another interesting book by Kevin Mitnick. Found it very humorous that several of the stories he tells about social engineers under a false name are actually stories about himself. If you have already read his most recent book "Ghost in the Wires" you will pick up on this. However, if you have read that book and are expecting the same kind of story, you will be disappointed. This book is directed toward companies looking to improve their security. Although sometimes it does seem like he's gi...more
For those who think psychologists and computer hackers have nothing in common. If you want to learn how to rip off multimillion-dollar corporations, make this book your first stop. Granted, their people have probably read this by now, but it's still very interesting, even just from the theoretical angle. It's also a laugh, not something common in nonfiction.
This is a great book for people who are interested in security, hacking, or Kevin Mitnick. It touches on an element of security that is often overlooked (the human element.) The book was very well written and interesting throughout. Instead of just explaining the methods he uses stories making the book feel more like a novel than a how-to.
Oct 03, 2008
Michelle
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone concerned about who has access to personal information
Comes off a little bit cocky at times, but that may be my take on it. Cocky or not, there is a lot of information between these pages that the public should be aware of for their own security. He is a genius who in high school managed to tap into the school's system to change a grade he didn't like... long story short, he wound up behind bars until the government hired him. (Guess we don't need to go there.) At any rate, he reveals some tactics people have used for identity theft, as well as rec...more
Aug 04, 2011
Tony Canas
added it
Interesting book by a famous hacker about how social engineers fool security systems not by hacking but mostly by fooling people. Overall it was interesting although the last third is just a guide for people in charge of security for a company and can be safely skipped if you're just a regular person (it's boring).
This book is really creepy.
It serves as a how-to, and to a lesser extent a how-to-prevent, book on social engineering attacks. Most professionals in the industry understand that attacks are rarely purely technology-based. Much more often companies are compromised through a combination of human and computer vulnerabilities.
This book focuses on the human component of such attacks and is written from the perspective of someone who was extremely effective at executing such attacks. Though I was alre...more
It serves as a how-to, and to a lesser extent a how-to-prevent, book on social engineering attacks. Most professionals in the industry understand that attacks are rarely purely technology-based. Much more often companies are compromised through a combination of human and computer vulnerabilities.
This book focuses on the human component of such attacks and is written from the perspective of someone who was extremely effective at executing such attacks. Though I was alre...more
Famous hacker and jailbird reveals pretty much all. A classic book that lets you know social engineering is more important than technical skills. The best defense does not survive a chatty employee. Most of the tricks are now well known, but in his day Mitnick was a ground breaker.
Was expecting a lot, since I heard about it in a talk at College de France from a Microsoft dude... Entertaining sure, but after reading a few pages it just becomes more of the same...
Anyway, would recommend if you are curious about how social engineering can be used to your advantage.
Anyway, would recommend if you are curious about how social engineering can be used to your advantage.
This man and his legend are simply amazing, this book is a series of stories about how different individuals have penetrated some of the most secure computer systems in the world. Its an amazing exploration of what it is and what it takes to be a great hacker. Great read.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodreads Librari...: ISBN-13 9780471237129 | 2 | 18 | Feb 04, 2012 06:39pm |
Kevin Mitnick, the world's most famous (former) computer hacker, has been the subject of countless news and magazine articles, the idol of thousands of would-be hackers, and a one-time "most wanted" criminal of cyberspace, on the run from the bewildered Feds. Now a security consultant, he has spoken to audiences at conventions around the world, been on dozens of major national TV and radio shows,...more
More about Kevin D. Mitnick...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
