Ghost in the Wires summary

The 1980s were the perfect time to exploit the digital world; digital records were increasingly popular, yet security systems were still rather simple.

But before he moved to computers, Mitnick sought to find out just how far he could get with a simple phone call.

Kevin Mitnick liked to see how far he could go with a simple phone call or a modem – he was never into hacking for personal or financial gain. But this distinction didn’t prevent him from getting into trouble with the authorities.

This time, no mistakes were made. It was a scorned woman who put him in hot water.

Kevin Mitnick was already making a name for himself in the local IT community; his juvenile offense had been reported on in the LA Times.

This newfound notoriety brought some new problems. For a start, being known as a hacker meant he’d probably have trouble putting his skills toward legitimate computer work. After all, which company would want to give a talented hacker access to their system?

In 1989, Kevin Mitnick was again ratted out by a friend, and this time he spent four months in jail.

Though he initially saw this as a much needed wake-up call – the warning that would get him back on the straight and narrow – when he got out of jail, he was hit with bad news right away. While he was locked up, his girlfriend had been cheating on him with his closest friend, Lewis.

Luckily, the FBI had no clue that Mitnick was eavesdropping on their phone conversations. This gave Mitnick the upper hand – and possibly a way to avoid their trap.

At this point, it was the early 1990s and the 28-year-old Mitnick began a careful dance with the FBI, listening to their plans and trying to stay one step ahead of them at all times.

While establishing his new life as Eric Weiss, Mitnick kept all his money and his ID on his person at all times. But there’s a reason people shouldn’t walk around with $11,000, which is how much Mitnick lost when a thief broke into his gym locker.

That was every penny Mitnick had; it was time to get a real job.

In early 1994, Mitnick was enjoying his new job with the Denver law firm. Little did he know it was about to come to an abrupt end.

He had gotten into the habit of using his lunch break to make social engineering calls on his cell phone and his bosses were starting to take notice. They believed Mitnick was using company time to conduct outside consultancy work.

After three years on the run, Kevin Mitnick was finally arrested on February 15, 1995.

Standing in a North Carolina courtroom to hear the charges being filed against him, Mitnick realized that the feds were going to go after him with everything they had.

Mitnick found a new life for himself after the trial.

It all began with a letter from US Senator Fred Thompson, inviting Mitnick to take part in a Senate hearing on how safe the US government is from cyber attacks.