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Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker

Kevin Mitnick, William L. Simon, Steve Wozniak · 2 HN comments
HN Books has aggregated all Hacker News stories and comments that mention "Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker" by Kevin Mitnick, William L. Simon, Steve Wozniak.
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Amazon Summary
In this "intriguing, insightful and extremely educational" novel, the world's most famous hacker teaches you easy cloaking and counter-measures for citizens and consumers in the age of Big Brother and Big Data (Frank W. Abagnale). Kevin Mitnick was the most elusive computer break-in artist in history. He accessed computers and networks at the world's biggest companies -- and no matter how fast the authorities were, Mitnick was faster, sprinting through phone switches, computer systems, and cellular networks. As the FBI's net finally began to tighten, Mitnick went on the run, engaging in an increasingly sophisticated game of hide-and-seek that escalated through false identities, a host of cities, and plenty of close shaves, 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 escapes -- and a portrait of a visionary who forced the authorities to rethink the way they pursued him, and forced companies to rethink the way they protect their most sensitive information. "Mitnick manages to make breaking computer code sound as action-packed as robbing a bank." -- NPR
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Hacker News Stories and Comments

All the comments and stories posted to Hacker News that reference this book.
Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier - Katie Hafner & John Markoff[1]

This book was really my entry point into the world of "hacking" as "breaking into things" and computer security, and the computer underground scene. It's broken into three sections:

1. A recounting of Kevin Mitnick's early days out in LA

2. A stripped down re-telling of the German hackers story (as recounted at greater length and in first-person in The Cuckoo's Egg)

3. A section on Robert Morris and the "Morris Worm" events

There are some questions about the veracity of parts of this book, especially the sections on Mitnick, but I think it's still worth a read. But if you're into this sort of thing, I'd suggest also reading other books on Mitnick (particularly his auto-biographical book Ghost In The Wires[2]) to get a more balanced view of his story - as well as more of what happened later in Mitnick's life.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/CYBERPUNK-Outlaws-Hackers-Computer-Fr...

[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-Worlds-Wanted/...*

In no particular order:

Sunburst and Luminary: an Apollo Memoir https://www.sunburstandluminary.com/SLhome.html

The Brain Makers https://www.amazon.com/Brain-Makers-HP-Newquist/dp/067230412...

Strategic Computing: DARPA and the Quest for Machine Intelligence https://www.amazon.com/Strategic-Computing-Machine-Intellige...

The Soul of a New Machine https://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine/dp/B01FCTJCR0

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution https://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Heroes-Computer-Revolution-An...

Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet https://www.amazon.com/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-Late/dp/B00AQU7...

Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn http://worrydream.com/refs/Hamming-TheArtOfDoingScienceAndEn... Not a dedicated history book, but Hamming talks a lot about personal experiences and observations

UNIX: A History and a Memoir https://www.amazon.com/UNIX-History-Memoir-Brian-Kernighan-e...

Masters of Doom https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cult... linking to audiobook because it is read by Wil Wheaton :)

Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-Worlds-Wanted/...

It might be just me, but I really enjoy reading biographies of people important to the science, for example here is one for John Tukey https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbm.2003...

madhadron
Hamming's 'Art of Doing Science nad Engineering' is absolutely worth reading.
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