Focusing on the human factors involved with information security, this book explains why all the firewalls and encryption protocols in the world will never be enough to stop a savvy grifter intent on rifling a corporate database or an irate employee determined to crash a system.

The world’s most celebrated hacker delivers the lowdown on today’s most serious security weakness–human nature

"Finally someone is on to the real cause of data security breaches–stupid humans … Mitnick … reveals clever tricks of the ‘social engineering’ trade and shows how to fend them off."
–Stephen Manes, Forbes

"A tour de force, a series of tales of how some old-fashioned blarney and high-tech skills can pry any information from anyone. As entertainment, it’s like reading the climaxes of a dozen complex thrillers, one after the other."
–Publishers Weekly

"Mitnick provides hair-raising examples of social engineering–disgruntled employees stealing top-secret research, smooth-talking con men acquiring data on next-generation explosives for terrorists–and explains how to combat it."
–Angela Gunn, Time Out New York

"He was the FBI’s most-wanted hacker. But in his own eyes, Mitnick was simply a small-time con artist with an incredible memory [and] a knack for social engineering… This is Mitnick’s account, complete with advice for how to protect yourself from similar attacks. I believe his story."
–Simson Garfinkel, Wired