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  • Ghost in the Wires

  • My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker
  • Written by: Kevin Mitnick, William L. Simon
  • Narrated by: Ray Porter
  • Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (163 ratings)

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Ghost in the Wires cover art

Ghost in the Wires

Written by: Kevin Mitnick, William L. Simon
Narrated by: Ray Porter
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Publisher's Summary

Kevin Mitnick was the most elusive computer break-in artist in history. He accessed computers and networks at the world’s biggest companies—and however fast the authorities were, Mitnick was faster, sprinting through phone switches, computer systems, and cellular networks. He spent years skipping through cyberspace, always three steps ahead and labeled unstoppable. But for Kevin, hacking wasn’t just about technological feats—it was an old fashioned confidence game that required guile and deception to trick the unwitting out of valuable information.

Driven by a powerful urge to accomplish the impossible, Mitnick bypassed security systems and blazed into major organizations including Motorola, Sun Microsystems, and Pacific Bell. But as the FBI’s net began to tighten, Kevin went on the run, engaging in an increasingly sophisticated cat-and-mouse game that led through false identities, a host of cities, plenty of close shaves, and 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 escape and a portrait of a visionary whose creativity, skills, and persistence forced the authorities to rethink the way they pursued him, inspiring ripples that brought permanent changes in the way people and companies protect their most sensitive information.

©2011 Kevin Mitnick. Foreword 2011 by Steve Wozniak (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What the critics say

“Intriguing, insightful, and extremely educational into the mind of one who truly mastered the art of social engineering with the use of a computer and modern-day technologies. I strongly believe that one can learn a great deal about protecting themselves once they understand how another one perpetrates the crime.” (Frank W. Abagnale, author of Catch Me If You Can)

What listeners say about Ghost in the Wires

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wow

talk about re-living my youth through a book, thanks Kevin for the 80s and 90s you were my hero then and now, and now I know the whole story!

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2 people found this helpful

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One of the most engaging books I have read

The story is exciting, Mitnick's problem solving skills are fascinating, the injustice by the US Justice system is appalling, the performance of Ray Porter is fantastic. This audiobook is great.

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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Great narrator, story is ok...

The narrator did a really good job but I had a hard time buying (which I did not) into the "I'm an all good mamma's boy betrayed by everyone and everything"... I bet Mitnick left a lot of details off to make him look good...

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wow, real life is better than fiction.

OK, sure any personal biographical books tend to be a little biased, this book is heart stopping. felt like a thriller story. Ray makes it as personal as ever, not narrating as much as telling a story as Kevin.
Loved it.

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  • Overall
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Excellent Work

I have had an interest in Kevin Mitnick's story for some time. This telling did not disappoint. It was quite enjoyable listening to his retelling of the hacks he performed and not only what systems and areas he got in to but how he did it. What was especially enjoyable is I grew up around the same technology he was working with so in many ways it was a trip down memory lane.

The audible performance was excellent, great work by Ray Porter. The story was engaging and filled with excellent detail and flow to keep me very interested. Excellent work.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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This book is amazing

Kevin’s journey, his humour, story telling and all the ups and downs makes this book worthy to read (listen to). Thank you Kevin for sharing your journey with us.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Fascinating, if Biased Autobiography

Ghost in the Wires is a fascinating, if biased autobiography about the life of the infamous grey hat hacker Kevin Mitnick. Ray Porter does an excellent narration for Kevin, giving voice to the text and making an already good story very entertaining.

To use an analogy. What Kevin did was like breaking into a house by lying to the maid, reading the owners mail, and leaving the window open so he could later eavesdrop on private conversations. Nowhere near as destructive or malicious as what a black hat hacker would have done, but still illegal and in most cases immoral. There are definitely some parts of the book where it feels like Mitnick is painting himself as a victim, sometimes factually like with his prison treatment, but other times very subjectively.

Very entertaining though. Mitnick's hacking career reads like the plot of a movie. If your at all interested in IT history, Hacking, or Mitnick, give the book a listen.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great storytelling

While some passages are technical, I have a computer science background so I followed fine. This might overwhelme others, but yiu can ignore the technical parts and still grasp very well what’s going on.

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  • Sam
  • 2022-11-30

Thrilling and informative

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and also learned a lot about hacking and social engineering.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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The power of social engineering.

Funny enough I had never heard about Kevin Mitnick prior to a few months back when my company decided to offer some online training on how to catch phishing and other types of attacks through e-mails. When I saw this book appear on my audible I was quite curious to give it a try. I am blown away to see what can be done through social engineering when it comes to hacking. Awesome book, very entertaining and with great narration.

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