The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders and Deceivers

Acknowledgments

By Kevin Mitnick

This book is dedicated to my wonderful family, close friends, and, most of all, the people that made this book possible — the black-hat and white-hat hackers who contributed their stories for our education and entertainment.

The Art of Intrusion was even more challenging to write than our last book. Instead of using our combined creative talent to develop stories and anecdotes to illustrate the dangers of social engineering and what businesses can do to mitigate it, both Bill Simon and I relied heavily on interviewing former hackers, phone phreaks, and hackers turned security professionals. We wanted to write a book that would be both a crime thriller and an eye-opening guide to helping businesses protect their valuable information and computing resources. We strongly believe that by disclosing the common methodologies and techniques used by hackers to break into systems and networks, we can influence the community at large to adequately address these risks and threats posed by savvy adversaries.

I have had the extraordinary fortune of being teamed up with best-selling author Bill Simon, and we worked diligently together on this new book. Bill’s notable skills as a writer include his magical ability to take information provided by our contributors and write it in such a style and manner that anyone’s grandmother could understand it. More importantly, Bill has become more than just a business partner in writing, but a loyal friend who has been there ...