The Fugitive Game

Rating:
Summary: It is a good book hard to put down
Review: This book is one of the best I've read in awhile it explains the life on the run that Mitnick lead and his astonishment of someone out smarting him if you want a good book you should buy it NOW

Rating:
Summary: The other side of the Kevin Mitnick chase.
Review: The best book so far on the famous cyber-chase. It shows Mitnick more than just a cartoon type villian.

Rating:
Summary: based on the true story
Review: I am mentioned numerous times in this book and am pretty familiar with the facts of the actual events. Littman takes the facts and pieces together a good tale based on the true story, modifying things as he wants to make things fit his story. For instance, I am referred to as the "indicted cell phone hacker", even though Littman knows I was never indicted for cell phone hacking. See the Tsumoto/Markoff version for the true story and this one for entertainment.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and enlightnening
Review: This book provides a very different side to the Kevin Mitnick hysteria that has swept the media. Computer Hacking is a current and topical subject the media love to capitalise on... "It may all not be accurate" Read this book as well as Katie Hafners book Cyberpunk and make up your own mind..... I have !

Rating:
Summary: an excellent counterpoint to "takedown"
Review: If you've followed the Kevin Mitnick story since January '95, you probably think you're pretty well informed on the subject. If you've gone as far as to read "Takedown" by Tsutomu Shimomura and John Markoff, you probably think you know the whole story. I know i did. But then I read this book. Littman, with a truly unique insider's view of Kevin Mitnick's life on the run, presents the story from the other side of the fence. As with many things in life the story turns out to be a lot more complex and interesting than previously thought. Overall, the book is excellent and well written, and Littman raises some very insightful questions about the justice system and typical media coverage of network security issues. I found the last third of the book, the part which chronicles the period after Mitnick's capture, to be somewhat drawn out. I thought that section was a little repetitive, and could have been a lot shorter. Still, the book is an an excellent read, and anyone whose opinions about the Kevin Mitnick case are based on the media coverage and on "Takedown" owe it to themselves to read "The Fugitive Game".

Rating:
Summary: This is a book about lifestyle, not technology
Review: If you're interested in the technical side of Mitnick's computer vandalism, you won't find it here. You will, however, get a glimpse into his personality and lifestyle, as well as an idea into those of other famous computer criminals of the '90s.
It is well written, however, as Littman is a professional writer. Contrast this with "Takedown," in which you're given a lot of techical information, but the writing is a bit less refined, as Shimomura makes his living as a scientific computing expert.
Take it for what it is.

Rating:
Summary: Great summer time read
Review: I found this book to be a great story dispite my having very little knowledge of the technology involved. It's interesting to get a feel of what compells these hackers to probe into forbidden territories. Some reviews have mentioned vilifying or playing up the cast of characters, but there is a careful balance of inspired genius and social dysfunction presented as two sides of the same coin. It does not often take great technical skill to be a hacker. Many of the passwords and other proprietary information are gleaned over over the phone by "Social Engineering" where an employee is duped into giving out private information. Mitnick is also more than just a hacker: as a fugitive he is working against those he feels are after him, and he uses his skills to brilliantly foil law enforcement operations seeking him out. Someday someone will combine these books into one great suspense movie.

Rating:
Summary: A good journalistic account
Review: Ever see the "FREE KEVIN" stickers on random phone booths in NYC? the "KEVIN" the stickers advertise is Kevin Mitnick, the brilliant hacker (no, not like the movie "HACKERS" although most definitely an inspiration for it) who was put behind bars for a long time for "crimes." Um, funny how only 15 yrs ago you could blow a 2600 hz tone into a pay phone with a cracker jack whistle and hack it, even though everything was supposedly "secure." same thing, only now we're dealing with websites and logic.
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