By Kevin D. Mitnick & William L. Simon

I don't know exactly where to start talking about the The Art of Deception except that it was rather disappointing.

Lets start by the beginning.
Who is Kevin Mitnick ?

quote:
Kevin David Mitnick (born August 6, 1963) is a computer security consultant and convicted criminal who was a controversial computer hacker in the late 20th century.

In 1999, Mitnick admitted to illegally gaining access to computer networks and acquiring copies of software as part of a plea agreement before the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. Though Mitnick has been convicted of computer related crimes and possession of several forged identification documents, his supporters argue that his punishment was excessive. In his 2002 book, The Art of Deception, Mitnick states that he compromised computers solely by using passwords and codes that he gained by social engineering. It is notable that Mitnick did not use software programs or hacking tools for cracking passwords or otherwise exploiting computer or phone security. more

Personally i see him more of a cracker than a hacker but above everything else he is/was a mostly a social engineer

quote:
Kevin Mitnick
Reformed computer criminal and security consultant Kevin Mitnick popularized the term social engineering, pointing out that it's much easier to trick someone into giving you his or her password for a system than to spend the effort to hack in.[1] He claims it to be the single most effective method in his arsenal.

Even in the end of this book he makes a reference to it and to the fact that he inherited those skills from an uncle.
So why was it disappointing ? Well i am a I.T addict and i was looking for that so famous and outstanding so called hacker ( Kevin Mitnick ) and reading about his methods as well as how to be protected, and i got a game of "cat and mouse" with fictional created stories (which some might have been used by Kevin) but never the less; very childish.

Before reading this book i was told to go read a psychology book instead and now i must say that i agree.
The examples and stories in this book are far too "pretend to.." and i doubt that currently highly educated and intelligent people will fall for most of these things.

After reading this book, my image of Kevin Mitnick was not of a hacker anymore but a "Con Artist"
The book refers to a movie regarding this subject and i will give another example with the movie : Matchstick Men

If you are looking for computer related technical details hacking/cracking/defending; then this book is not for you.
I would recommend something like : Hacking - The art of Exploitation or Programming Linux Hacker Tools Uncovered instead.

Keep in mind that this is my opinion based on computer skills and technical knowledge of computer systems.
This book on has a couple references to a couple websites and simply password cracking methods which one can easily find on-line.

As for social engineer skills i guess it might be ok to read if you are paranoid about human confidentiality in your company; but to me it was long and painful to finish reading . It took me more than 7 months to finish it while i read the "Da vinci Code in 5 nights" just to give you an example.
I found it long, boring, too much fictional and while i see and understand how all those skills can be used against people to me i believe that there are better readings out there for the same kind of matters.

There are however some tips and information in the end of the book in the security at a glance chapter on how to have things done in order to prevent social engineering attacks.

Another and different opinion about this book:

Quote:
The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security is a terrific book. It is almost more about human nature than it is hacking. The book discusses hacking from a non-technical perspective.
http://netsecurity.about.com/library/aafpr032103.htm

I disagree with the "terrific book" comment. Maybe because i have some background in the interactive marketing field and did/taught training people how to deal with people in many ways.

I would not buy this book. So here it is a free download for those who may wish to read it: download