Kevin Mitnick Quotes

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Kevin Mitnick

Profession : Businessman

Birth : August 6, 1963

Garbage can provide important details for hackers: names, telephone numbers, a company's internal jargon.

Kevin Mitnick

Oracle, for example, has even hired people to dumpster dive for information about its competitor, Microsoft. It's not even illegal, because trash isn't covered by data secrecy laws.

Kevin Mitnick

I was fascinated with the phone system and how it worked; I became a hacker to get better control over the phone company.

Kevin Mitnick

The myth of Kevin Mitnick is much more interesting than the reality of Kevin Mitnick. If they told the reality, no one would care.

Kevin Mitnick

No way, no how did I break into NORAD. That's a complete myth. And I never attempted to access anything considered to be classified government systems.

Kevin Mitnick

Choosing a hard-to-guess, but easy-to-remember password is important!

Kevin Mitnick

No company that I ever hacked into reported any damages, which they were required to do for significant losses.

Kevin Mitnick

I trust online banking. You know why? Because if somebody hacks into my account and defrauds my credit card company, or my online bank account, guess who takes the loss? The bank, not me.

Kevin Mitnick

I was an accomplished computer trespasser. I don't consider myself a thief. I copied without permission.

Kevin Mitnick

I saw myself as an electronic joy rider. I was like James Bond behind the computer. I was just having a blast.

Kevin Mitnick

Somebody could send you an office document or a PDF file, and as soon as you open it, it's a booby trap and the hacker has complete control of your computer. Another major problem is password management. People use the same password on multiple sites, so when the hacker compromises one site, they have your password for everywhere else.

Kevin Mitnick

If you go to a coffee shop or at the airport, and you're using open wireless, I would use a VPN service that you could subscribe for 10 bucks a month. Everything is encrypted in an encryption tunnel, so a hacker cannot tamper with your connection.

Kevin Mitnick

Being on the run wasn't fun, but it was something I had to do. I was actually working in legitimate jobs. I wasn't living on people's credit cards. I was living like a character out of a movie. It was performance art.

Kevin Mitnick

What happens with smaller businesses is that they give in to the misconception that their site is secure because the system administrator deployed standard security products - firewalls, intrusion detection systems, or stronger authentication devices such as time-based tokens or biometric smart cards. But those things can be exploited.

Kevin Mitnick

Most people assume that once security software is installed, they're protected. This isn't the case. It's critical that companies be proactive in thinking about security on a long-term basis.

Kevin Mitnick

To have transactions made on your web site via credit card, you must be PCI compliant. Businesses make the mistake of thinking that because you passed the requirements and are PCI certified, you are immune to attacks.

Kevin Mitnick

Most of the computer compromises that we hear about use a technique called spear phishing, which allows an attacker access to a key person's workstation. It's extremely difficult to defend against.

Kevin Mitnick

I don't know the capabilities of our enemies. But I found it quite easy to circumvent security at certain phone companies throughout the United States. So if an inquisitive kid can do it, why can't a cyberterrorist do it?

Kevin Mitnick

I could pose as a Yahoo rep claiming that there's been some sort of fault, and somebody else is getting your e-mail, and we're going to have to remove your account and reinstall it. So what we'll do is reset the current password that you have - and by the way, what is it?

Kevin Mitnick

A log-in simulator is a program to trick some unknowing user into providing their user name and password.

Kevin Mitnick