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
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.
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.
attachment engineering deception
Social engineering is using deception, manipulation and influence to convince a human who has access to a computer system to do something, like click on an attachment in an e-mail.
engineering keys information
The key to social engineering is influencing a person to do something that allows the hacker to gain access to information or your network.
engineering organization deception
Social engineering is using manipulation, influence and deception to get a person, a trusted insider within an organization, to comply with a request, and the request is usually to release information or to perform some sort of action item that benefits that attacker.
technology engineering bypass
Social engineering bypasses all technologies, including firewalls.
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.
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.
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.
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.