The Art of Invisibility

Limited value for the average person

Mitnik's book has a handful of decent ideas for how the average person can better protect their privacy, but this content isn't worth the 9 hour listen, much of which is just rambling about the countless ways in which our lives and activities can be monitored in the digital age. Mitnik comes across as a bit full of himself, which would be fine if the content was more worthwhile.

It's unclear at what demographic the book is targeted, as some of the stuff is applicable to everyone, but he also spends a lot of time on topics that would seem to only be of interest to criminals or the truly paranoid (hiring a homeless person to buy you a throw-away phone, which you then use to establish an anonymous identity, and so on).

Save yourself the read...below are the main ideas that seem relevant to most people, you can probably find better info on these elsewhere than this book:
- Your personal data (hometown, mother's maiden name, etc.) is probably compromised, so don't use it as your "Secure Questions" for accounts. Instead, develop a list of specific, fake answers to these questions.
- Use 12-20 digit passwords on your accounts, don't use the same password for different stuff
- Establish Two Factor Authentication on all your accounts/devices, using Google Authenticator if available
- Use a dedicated device for accessing your most sensitive (financial) acccounts
- Ensure your router has updated firmware and isn't configured to use outdated WPA encryption

592 of 599 people found this review helpful

Audio is Not the Right Format

After about an hour I've decide to return the book and buy a paper or Kindle copy instead.
A line in an audio book that says, "For more instructions... see page 117" is about as clear of an indicator as you can get that audio is the wrong format. It's a pity because I really like both the content and the performance, but to make practical use of the book, I need something I can read.

180 of 184 people found this review helpful

Maybe reading the book is better

-This book works a lot like a checklist and a guide as to how to be invisible online.

It obviously goes into details about what is what, and the reason to be invisible by citing different cases, such as the Snowden files, bitcoin ransoming, viruses etc, and then HOW you can avoid such things, or gain access to certain things with things that the author suggests.

-The author DOES actually suggest what to use, and how to use it, and at the end, a full step by step solution to be invisible online. In this, i think it would honestly be better to read it, and then you can come back to it later.

-In audio format, although many things were indeed interesting, its difficult to come back to easily as audio chapters are not marked.. or of course you have to take notes going all the way through.

-I'm happy to have listened to it, and i found many of the things worthwhile, but i probably wouldn't listen to it again.

13 of 13 people found this review helpful

Enough bits to be worth the read; overly focused on wrong threat models

If you're like me, you came to this book just wanting to protect your privacy. You'll get some good ideas from Mitnick. However, too much of the book was aimed at the unlikely reader: someone truly wanting to cover their tracks from government surveillance... and then only in the final chapter did he truly pull together a formula for establishing enough identity encryption to do so.

There are some entertaining stories you'd hope from an ex-Black Hat. He kept what could be a dry topic fun to read.

Ray Porter (narrator) did a great job of adding emphasis to enliven the book. However, it was disappointing when he fully mispronounced essential terms; it immediately drained creditability from the author's voice. Also, Porter's emphasis was a bit thick, so much so that he made Mitnick sound down right bratty and annoying.. I've seen Mitnick in interviews and he doesn't come across that way to me.

Technically, you will walk away with a couple of good tips and product recommendations as well as understanding why they are good choices.

81 of 86 people found this review helpful

Good overall.

Unfortunately, btc and other digital currencies now count as property and are therefore taxable. So, if you follow the advice given you will be guilty of tax evasion.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

An uninteresting how-to of extreme measures

Any additional comments?

The interesting parts and the actionable advice that most people would find reasonable (like using a password manager) could be summed up in maybe 10 minutes. The rest was advice that most people would find absolutely unreasonable to incorporate into their lives (e.g., pay a stranger to purchase prepaid gift cards that you can use to buy a mobile hotspot, whose mac address you'll change every time you use it, or set up multiple email accounts to launder bitcoins,...). If you're a big time criminal, some of these things are worth you time, but for most of us they aren't.

25 of 27 people found this review helpful

very good overall

Great information, good stories and examples as proof, and an enjoyable audiobook overall. there is a lot of great information in here both for the casual web surfer and rmailer, as well as for even the most experienced sys admin or sys eng.

22 of 24 people found this review helpful

Authors, PLEASE Hire Ray Porter to Read Your Books

This is the first nonfiction book I've listened to Ray Porter read. WOW! What an experience! Mitnick is a fantastic writer to begin with, not boring at all, but Porter takes his words to the next level. I never found myself drifting off, thinking about other things. I was 100% present in the book throughout. This is a rarity, as some readers are an absolute chore to stay tuned in to. Not Ray!

I encourage ALL nonfiction writers to start hiring Ray Porter to read their books. He adds an excitement to academic tomes that is welcome and refreshing.

As for the book itself, it's OUTSTANDING. The other reviews praising it are spot on. Mitnick is WAYYYYYYYYYY ahead of the techno-curve, and wants you to be as well. Buy this book for its practical advice. Enjoy the book because of RAY!

98 of 110 people found this review helpful

Mitnick delivers yet again

I'm a 20 year IT admin, and know a lot about many of the technologies Kevin discusses in this book, but the real gold is how he explains the how's, whys, gotchas and more when it comes to online privacy. Unless your name is Edward Snowden, you should get this book. You will love it.

41 of 46 people found this review helpful

Excellent Book!

Mitnick does an excellent job balancing technical jargon and audience engagement. He masterfully simplifies complex subject matter and explains cyber security concepts in a way that the general populous can understand and learn from.
I highly recommend listening through once for an overview of the ideas, and then at least once more if you plan on putting his words into practice.

18 of 22 people found this review helpful