The Art of Invisibility: The World's Most Famous Hacker Teaches You How to Be Safe in the Age of Big Brother and Big Data

by Kevin Mitnick

Overview

Real-world advice on how to be invisible online from "the FBI's most wanted hacker" (Wired).

Be online without leaving a trace. Your every step online is being tracked and stored, and your identity literally stolen. Big companies and big governments want to know and exploit what you do, and privacy is a luxury few can afford or understand.

In this explosive yet practical book, Kevin Mitnick uses true-life stories to show exactly what is happening without your knowledge, teaching you "the art of invisibility" — online and real-world tactics to protect you and your family, using easy step-by-step instructions.

Reading this book, you will learn everything from password protection and smart Wi-Fi usage to advanced techniques designed to maximize your anonymity. Kevin Mitnick knows exactly how vulnerabilities can be exploited and just what to do to prevent that from happening.

The world's most famous — and formerly the US government's most wanted — computer hacker, he has hacked into some of the country's most powerful and seemingly impenetrable agencies and companies, and at one point was on a three-year run from the FBI. Now Mitnick is reformed and widely regarded as the expert on the subject of computer security. Invisibility isn't just for superheroes; privacy is a power you deserve and need in the age of Big Brother and Big Data.

"Who better than Mitnick — internationally wanted hacker turned Fortune 500 security consultant — to teach you how to keep your data safe?" —Esquire

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316380522
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	103,700
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Kevin Mitnick has been the subject of countless profiles published and broadcast throughout the world. Mitnick's leading penetration-testing team is highly respected and sought after for its security services by the world's top corporations and governments. The company he founded, Mitnick Security Consulting LLC, has clients that include dozens from the Fortune 500 and many nations across the globe. Mitnick is the bestselling author of The Art of Invisibility, Ghost in the Wires, The Art of Intrusion, and The Art of Deception. He lives in Las Vegas and travels the world as the top keynote speaker on cybersecurity.

Table of Contents

Preface to the 2019 edition vii

Foreword Mikko Hypponen ix

Introduction: Time to Disappear 3

Chapter 1 Your Password Can Be Cracked! 11

Chapter 2 Who Else Is Reading Your E-mail? 30

Chapter 3 Wiretapping 101 52

Chapter 4 If You Don't Encrypt, You're Unequipped 67

Chapter 5 Now You See Me, Now You Don't 78

Chapter 6 Every Mouse Click You Make, I'll Be Watching You 91

Chapter 7 Pay Up or Else! 112

Chapter 8 Believe Everything, Trust Nothing 129

Chapter 9 You Have No Privacy? Get Over It! 144

Chapter 10 You Can Run but Not Hide 165

Chapter 11 Hey, KITT, Don't Share My Location 179

Chapter 12 The Internet of Surveillance 199

Chapter 13 Things Your Boss Doesn't Want You to Know 215

Chapter 14 Obtaining Anonymity Is Hard Work 232

Chapter 15 The FBI Always Gets Its Man 256

Chapter 16 Mastering the Art of Invisibility 262

Acknowledgments 279

Notes 283

Index 299

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Art of Invisibility

"How would it feel to find out that your neighbor and friend has secretly observed you in your own home for years? The place that should be most private to you was not, and the intruder's devices themselves weren't something you'd ever have thought to look for. This kind of behavior is the opposite of giving normal people freedom and security, of valuing and respecting them as humans—and it's happening more and more. The answer to peeping eyes and cyber theft is to move society toward greater cyber-security and it all starts with essential education about being private and invisible in our daily lives. Kevin's book is the must read in this new world."—Steve Wozniak, cofounder, Apple Inc.

"The FBI's most-wanted hacker."—Wired

"Who better than Mitnick — internationally wanted hacker turned Fortune 500 security consultant — to teach you how to keep your data safe from spear phishing, computer worms, and Fancy Bears?"—Esquire

"Offers a sobering reminder of how our raw data — from email, cars, home Wi-Fi networks and so on — makes us vulnerable."—Amy Webb, New York Times Book Review

"Mitnick's new book aims to help everyone — from the everyday internet users to the hardcore paranoid — do a better job of keeping personal information private."—Laura Hautala, CNET

Praise for The Art of Deception

"The most famous computer hacker in the world. A tour de force."—Publishers Weekly

"The world's most famous computer hacker and cybercult hero...has written a blueprint for system security based on his own experiences. Required reading for IT professionals, this book is highly recommended for public, academic, and corporate libraries."—Library Journal

Praise for Ghost in the Wires

"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

From the Publisher

Mitnick…offers a sobering reminder of how our raw data—from email, cars, home Wi-Fi networks and so on—makes us vulnerable.

The New York Times Book Review - Amy Webb

10/01/2016
Once on a three-year run from the FBI for his seemingly magical hacking abilities, as described in his over 100,000-copy best-selling memoir, Ghost in the Wires, the reformed Mitnick here gives step-by-step instructions on how we can protect ourselves from online invasion. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

Kevin Mitnick, the world’s most famous and infamous hacker, uses many real-life case studies to explain how to to achieve greater online privacy. In a gruff timbre and matter-of-fact tone, narrator Ray Porter walks listeners through the details of avoiding malicious hackers and their related schemes. Porter provides an assertively controlled, well-paced journalistic performance. Disappointingly, though, Mitnick’s suggestions range from the easy to grasp, such as employing stronger passwords, to the arcane, such as using dual and tertiary identity verification. The audiobook is eye-opening and scary. It’s likely to fascinate, but listeners may finish it without a clear idea of how to go about improving their everyday cybersecurity. W.A.G.. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2017 - AudioFile

2016-12-07
A highly useful handbook for how not to be seen—online, anyway. Think your data and identity are safe because you've got an eight-character password that isn't "God" or "1234"? Guess again, says cybersecurity expert Mitnick (Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker, 2011, etc.). In a world where your smart TV can spy on you and your cellphone can reveal your location to any party with the ability to download tracking software, the odds are that your data is…well, compromised is the least of it. Furthermore, the American government has a rubber stamp for getting at your data, even in the days after Edward Snowden—whom the author mentions at several points—pointed out how much data the government already has. One step in the right direction is to use encryption software such as PGP ("pretty good privacy") to keep your email secure. However, warns Mitnick after a discussion refreshingly short on technical arcana if still a little daunting, "to become truly invisible in the digital world you will need to do more than encrypt your messages." Among the other techniques he suggests are using a passphrase instead of a password, made up of information only you can know, behind a virtual private network, encrypted phone calls, and two-factor authorization, all geeky things that Mitnick describes in admirably clear detail. Other tricks: use a reloadable gift card behind an email address used only for that purpose for online shopping, if you must shop online at all. Along the way, Mitnick describes how David Petraeus was caught in electronic flagrante, how Silk Road got taken down, and how he himself got nabbed. You don't have to be a paranoiac to have enemies, and you don't need to be an outlaw to want to keep your personal information personal. Though with more than a whiff of conspiracy theory to it, Mitnick's book is a much-needed operating manual for the cyberage.

Kirkus Reviews