The Art of Deception

The world’s most celebrated hacker delivers the lowdown on today’s most serious security weakness–human nature

"Finally someone is on to the real cause of data security breaches–stupid humans … Mitnick … reveals clever tricks of the ‘social engineering’ trade and shows how to fend them off."
–Stephen Manes, Forbes

"A tour de force, a series of tales of how some old-fashioned blarney and high-tech skills can pry any information from anyone. As entertainment, it’s like reading the climaxes of a dozen complex thrillers, one after the other."
–Publishers Weekly

"Mitnick provides hair-raising examples of social engineering–disgruntled employees stealing top-secret research, smooth-talking con men acquiring data on next-generation explosives for terrorists–and explains how to combat it."
–Angela Gunn, Time Out New York

"He was the FBI’s most-wanted hacker. But in his own eyes, Mitnick was simply a small-time con artist with an incredible memory [and] a knack for social engineering… This is Mitnick’s account, complete with advice for how to protect yourself from similar attacks. I believe his story."
–Simson Garfinkel, Wired