the art of deception by kevin mitnick

[hosh_spicer]

does anyone own that book...is it worth the the 20 bucks i'd have to shell out?

I'v heard it's like a SE handbook but I just wanted to check with the l337

SEers out there...

[rbcp]

I read a PDF of it.  It was really boring.  It's aimed at corporate people, so he talks down to them and repeats himself constantly.  There are some good examples in the book, though.  I think it could be considered a good primer for people wanting to get into social engineering.  And most of the Amazon reviews are favorable.

[trevelyn]

i liked it much more than his second book, Art of intrusion.  He does repeat himself, but that's also what we do.  You can obviously learn more Social Engineering from A George Mcdonald book, or movie...
exempli gratia: Fletch, Fletch Lives, Fletch won... etc/

[frog]

This is what you should do:

Buy the book from a book store with a two week return policy. Read the book in less than two weeks, and return it.

Like Arbie said, it's horribly repetitive, but definitely good for SOEN101.

[rbcp]

Or buy it used on Amazon.  It says on there that used copies start at $3.40.

[gangals]

My school library has it so....

[frog]

Or buy it used on Amazon.  It says on there that used copies start at $3.40.

I THOUGHT YOU WERE A HACKER, ARBIE. I TRUSTED YOU.

[hosh_spicer]

I doubt my library has it...I live in the sticks...I don't really mind paying (unless I can't find a torrent)

I just wanted to be sure it was worth the money...because thats really what I need is a Social Engineering 101 kinda

thing...I might try that return trick though, frog

[silentneep]

http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3512721/Books___Kevin_Mitnick_-_The_Art_of_Deception_and_Kevin_Mitnick_-

Only 1 seeder, though.

[hosh_spicer]

I got a copy, thanks to gangals....thanks to everyone...been reading through it and hot damn I'm hard pressed to believe that some of this shit is
possible...can people be that stupid?

[frog]

I got a copy, thanks to gangals....thanks to everyone...been reading through it and hot damn I'm hard pressed to believe that some of this shit is
possible...can people be that stupid?

People aren't stupid, they just aren't all paranoid freaks who think every call is trying to hack them. The majority of calls people receive are legitimate, so most aren't always on code red lockdown. If you had been reading it well enough, you would understand that social engineering is almost entirely an exploitation of trust, not an exploitation of stupidity.

[trevelyn]

frog, there's no patch for human stupidity.   



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089155/                         

[hosh_spicer]

I got a copy, thanks to gangals....thanks to everyone...been reading through it and hot damn I'm hard pressed to believe that some of this shit is
possible...can people be that stupid?

People aren't stupid, they just aren't all paranoid freaks who think every call is trying to hack them. The majority of calls people receive are legitimate, so most aren't always on code red lockdown. If you had been reading it well enough, you would understand that social engineering is almost entirely an exploitation of trust, not an exploitation of stupidity.

I understand that completely but still I keep thinking if I was on the phone...I don't care if the other person seemed legit or not if they were asking for account information on one of my clients, they would be SOL until they could prove who they said they were...but I guess it just goes back to trust...

[hosh_spicer]

frog, there's no patch for human stupidity.   



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089155/                         

HA that looks interesting...I might check that out....

[rbcp]

I understand that completely but still I keep thinking if I was on the phone...I don't care if the other person seemed legit or not if they were asking for account information on one of my clients, they would be SOL until they could prove who they said they were...but I guess it just goes back to trust...

Keep in mind, though, that you're a part of a large community of people that know about this kind of thing.  Most people aren't.