Kevin Mitnick
Kevin Mitnick
Kevin David Mitnickis an American computer security consultant, author and hacker, best known for his high-profile 1995 arrest and later five years in prison for various computer and communications-related crimes...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth6 August 1963
CountryUnited States of America
five fugitive future return spending
I'm not a fugitive anymore. Never will be in the future. After spending five years in jail, you learn your lesson. I never want to return there.
alarm average checks download needs program recommend running system zone
For the average home-user, anti-virus software is a must. A personal firewall such as Zone Alarm and running a program like HFNetcheck, which is a free download for personal users. It checks your system to see if anything needs to be patched. I'd also recommend a program such as SpyCop to periodically check for any spyware on your system.
access code computer exploring hacking involved obtaining operating source systems within
My hacking involved pretty much exploring computer systems and obtaining access to the source code of telecommunication systems and computer operating systems, because my goal was to learn all I can about security vulnerabilities within these systems.
acceptable mitigate remove
You can never protect yourself 100%. What you do is protect yourself as much as possible and mitigate risk to an acceptable degree. You can never remove all risk.
copied
I was an accomplished computer trespasser. I don't consider myself a thief. I copied without permission.
access account address companies computer contain devices dollars link measures millions money none operate people protected secure systems wasted weakest
Companies spend millions of dollars on firewalls, encryption, and secure access devices and it's money wasted because none of these measures address the weakest link in the security chain: the people who use, administer, operate and account for computer systems that contain protected information.
american-celebrity card credit thinking
So what you have to do is think about authenticating credit card transactions more than thinking about obfuscating the credit card number.
anyone badge damage honor hurt malicious trying
That's not a badge of honor I enjoy, ... I never had malicious intent. I was never trying to hurt anyone or damage anything.
gullible deny co-worker
The Americans are the most gullible, because they don't like to deny co-workers' requests.
data hackers profit
A hacker doesnt deliberately destroy data or profit from his activities.
coffee tunnels airports
If you go to a coffee shop or at the airport, and you're using open wireless, I would use a VPN service that you could subscribe for 10 bucks a month. Everything is encrypted in an encryption tunnel, so a hacker cannot tamper with your connection.
target humans knows
The human. Now you know all about your target
writing people target
I use Mac. Not because it's more secure than everything else - because it is actually less secure than Windows - but I use it because it is still under the radar. People who write malicious code want the greatest return on their investment, so they target Windows systems. I still work with Windows in virtual machines.
engineering able social
Both social engineering and technical attacks played a big part in what I was able to do. It was a hybrid. I used social engineering when it was appropriate, and exploited technical vulnerabilities when it was appropriate.