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
becoming cyberspace exploiting hackers human nature next technical ways
Hackers are becoming more sophisticated in conjuring up new ways to hijack your system by exploiting technical vulnerabilities or human nature. Don't become the next victim of unscrupulous cyberspace intruders.
becoming feared government kid notorious perform tricks
I went from being a kid who loved to perform magic tricks to becoming the world's most notorious hacker, feared by corporations and the government.
becoming best credit hacking jobs money stealing systems using worked
My hacking was all about becoming the best at circumventing security. So when I was a fugitive, I worked systems administrator jobs to make money. I wasn't stealing money or using other people's credit cards. I was doing a 9-to-5 job.
becoming-the-best locks agendas
So what I was essentially doing was, I compromised the confidentiality of their proprietary software to advance my agenda of becoming the best at breaking through the lock.
hacking bugs becoming
It's true, I had hacked into a lot of companies, and took copies of the source code to analyze it for security bugs. If I could locate security bugs, I could become better at hacking into their systems. It was all towards becoming a better hacker.
american-celebrity human message primary social speaking threat today
My message today is primary the same... I usually go around speaking on the threat of the human element, particularly on social engineering.
definitely turned
The hacking trend has definitely turned criminal because of e-commerce.
entertainment fbi hacking huge longer mind occupy video
Hacking was the only entertainment that would occupy my mind - like a huge video game, but with real consequences. I could have evaded the FBI a lot longer if I had been able to control my passion for hacking.
money
I wasn't a hacker for the money, and it wasn't to cause damage.
bite criminal field forbidden fruit hacking knowledge legitimate public security skill though
It's kind of interesting, because hacking is a skill that could be used for criminal purposes or legitimate purposes, and so even though in the past I was hacking for the curiosity, and the thrill, to get a bite of the forbidden fruit of knowledge, I'm now working in the security field as a public speaker.
appearing authority certain convince engineer fear figure mental people perceived prone social taking
People are prone to taking mental shortcuts. They may know that they shouldn't give out certain information, but the fear of not being nice, the fear of appearing ignorant, the fear of a perceived authority figure - all these are triggers, which can be used by a social engineer to convince a person to override established security procedures.
attacked best companies database dollar information interest laws required running stolen until
Think about it: if you were running a multi-million dollar company, and your database of customer information was stolen, would you want to tell your clients? No. Most companies did not until the laws required them to. It's in the best interest of organisations - when they're attacked and information is stolen - to tell nobody.
bad people
To some people I'll always be the bad guy.
antenna companies emails explosion hacker johnny limited networks parking send using wireless
The explosion of companies deploying wireless networks insecurely is creating vulnerabilities, as they think it's limited to the office - then they have Johnny Hacker in the parking lot with an 802.11 antenna using the network to send threatening emails to the president!