Quotes by Kevin Mitnick - Page 3 | QuoteForever

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If I needed to know about a security exploit, I preferred to get the information by accessing the companies' security teams' files, rather than poring over lines of code to find it on my own. It's just more efficient.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Code
Efficient
Files
Lines
Exploit
Preferred
Teams
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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 / Consultant
Inquisitive
Capabilities
Phone
Enemies
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Both social engineering and technical attacks played a big part in what I was able to do. It was a hybrid. I used social engineering when it was appropriate, and exploited technical vulnerabilities when it was appropriate.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Able
Appropriate
Engineering
Hybrid
Social
Social Engineering
Attacks
Played
Big Part
Exploited
Vulnerabilities
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The best thing to do is always keep randomly generated passwords everywhere and use a password tool to manage it, and then you don't have to remember those passwords at all, just the master password that unlocks the database.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Manage
Remember
Everywhere
Database
Master
Randomly
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It was used for decades to describe talented computer enthusiasts, people whose skill at using computers to solve technical problems and puzzles was - and is - respected and admired by others possessing similar technical skills.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Computers
Computer
Decades
People
Possessing
Puzzles
Skills
Solve
Admired
Describe
Talented
Respected
Similar
Skill
Whose
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I obtained confidential information in the same way government employees did, and I did it all without even touching a computer. ... I was so successful with this line of attack that I rarely had to go towards a technical attack.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Government
Successful
Touching
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A lot of companies are clueless, because they spend most or all of their security budget on high-tech security like fire walls and biometric authentication - which are important and needed - but then they don't train their people.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Clueless
Fire
Needed
Security
Budget
Companies
High-Tech
Spend
Walls
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My hacking was all about becoming the best at circumventing security. So when I was a fugitive, I worked systems administrator jobs to make money. I wasn't stealing money or using other people's credit cards. I was doing a 9-to-5 job.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Cards
Credit
Fugitive
Hacking
Administrator
Best Money People
Credit Cards
Systems
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Companies spend millions of dollars on firewalls and secure access devices, and it's money wasted because none of these measures address the weakest link in the security chain: the people who use, administer and operate computer systems
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Dollars
People
Use
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For a long time, I was portrayed as the Osama bin Laden of the Internet, and I really wanted to be able to tell my side of the story. I wanted to be able to explain exactly what I did and what I didn't do to people who thought they knew me.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Time Me Long
Time Long Internet
Bin
Exactly What
Explain
Portrayed
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I think it goes back to my high school days. In computer class, the first assignment was to write a program to print the first 100 Fibonacci numbers. Instead, I wrote a program that would steal passwords of students. My teacher gave me an A.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Teacher
Computer
Numbers
Print
Program
School
School Days
Writing
Teacher Me School
Assignment
Steal
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The Patriot Act is ludicrous. Terrorists have proved that they are interested in total genocide, not subtle little hacks of the U.S. infrastructure, yet the government wants a blank search warrant to spy and snoop on everyone's communications.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Blank
Genocide
Infrastructure
Patriot
Patriot Act
Spy
Subtle
Communications
Ludicrous
Proved
Search
Terrorists
Warrant
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But a lot of businesses out there don't see the return on investment, they look at it as a liability, and until they can understand that proactive security actually returns, gives them a return on investment, it's still a hard sell for people.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Giving
Investment
Liability
Looks
People
Proactive
Return
Security
Look People See
Businesses
Sell
Gives
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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 / Consultant
Airports
Bucks
Coffee
Encryption
Tunnels
Wireless
Airport
Month
Open
Connection
Hacker
Shop
Service
Subscribe
Tunnel
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It's true, I had hacked into a lot of companies, and took copies of the source code to analyze it for security bugs. If I could locate security bugs, I could become better at hacking into their systems. It was all towards becoming a better hacker.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Becoming
Bugs
Code
Copies
Hacked
Hacking
If I Could
Security
Source
Analyze
Companies
Towards
Locate
Systems
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Our Constitution requires that the accused be presumed innocent before trial, thus granting all citizens the right to a bail hearing, where the accused has the opportunity to be represented by counsel, present evidence, and cross-examine witnesses.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Accused
Bail
Citizens
Evidence
Innocent
Counsel
Requires
Thus
Trial
Witnesses
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My hacking involved pretty much exploring computer systems and obtaining access to the source code of telecommunication systems and computer operating systems, because my goal was to learn all I can about security vulnerabilities within these systems.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Access
Code
Computer
Exploring
Hacking
Involved
Obtaining
Operating Systems
Security
Source
Within
Pretty
Operating
Systems
Vulnerabilities
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Security is always going to be a cat and mouse game because there'll be people out there that are hunting for the zero day award, you have people that don't have configuration management, don't have vulnerability management, don't have patch management.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Zero
Awards
Cat
Configuration
Hunting
Management
Security
Vulnerability
Award
Game
Mouse
Patch
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It's actually a smarter crime because imagine if you rob a bank, or you're dealing drugs. If you get caught you're going to spend a lot of time in custody. But with hacking, it's much easier to commit the crime and the risk of punishment is slim to none.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Caught
Commit
Crime
Custody
Easier
Hacking
Imagine
Punishment
Risk
Slim
Smarter
Bank
Dealing
Spend
None
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It’s actually a smarter crime because imagine if you rob a bank, or you’re dealing drugs. If you get caught you’re going to spend a lot of time in custody. But with hacking, it’s much easier to commit the crime and the risk of punishment is slim to none.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Drug
Punishment
Risk
Copy Quote
Penetrating a company's security often starts with the bad guy obtaining some piece of information that seems so innocent, so everyday and unimportant, that most people in the organization don't see any reason why the item should be protected and restricted.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Company
Everyday
Information
Innocent
Obtaining
Organization
Protected
Security
Unimportant
Bad Guy
Item
Penetrating
Piece
Restricted
Copy Quote
Social engineering is using manipulation, influence and deception to get a person, a trusted insider within an organization, to comply with a request, and the request is usually to release information or to perform some sort of action item that benefits that attacker.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Action
Benefits
Deception
Engineering
Influence
Manipulation
Organization
Release
Request
Social
Social Engineering
Trusted
Person
Within
Perform
Comply
Insider
Item
Some
Using
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Computer hacking really results in financial losses and hassles. The objectives of terrorist groups are more serious. That is not to say that cyber groups can't access a telephone switch in Manhattan on a day like 9/11, shut it down, and therefore cause more casualties.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Access
Casualties
Computer
Cyber
Financial
Groups
Hacking
Hassle
Loss
Manhattan
Objectives
Serious
Terrorist
Terrorist Groups
Cause
Losses
Shut
Switch
Telephone
Therefore
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The explosion of companies deploying wireless networks insecurely is creating vulnerabilities, as they think it's limited to the office - then they have Johnny Hacker in the parking lot with an 802.11 antenna using the network to send threatening emails to the president!
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Antenna
Creating
Deploying
Office
Parking
Parking Lot
President
Threatening
Wireless
Companies
Emails
Explosion
Hacker
Johnny
Limited
Network
Send
Vulnerabilities
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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 / Consultant
Remove
Account
Claiming
Current
Pose
Yahoo
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Protecting yourself is very challenging in the hostile environment of the Internet. Imagine a global environment where an unscrupulous person from the other side of the planet can probe your computer for weaknesses and exploit them to gain access to your most sensitive secrets.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Access
Computer
Environment
Hostile
Imagine
Sensitive
Where Yourself Your
Exploit
Gain
Global
Global Environment
Probe
Planet
Protecting
Secrets
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It doesn't work the same way everywhere. The Americans are the most gullible, because they don't like to deny co-workers' requests. People in the former Soviet bloc countries are less trusting, perhaps because of their previous experiences with their countries' secret services.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Country
Deny
Former
Gullible
People
Secret
Soviet
Work People Way
Everywhere
Co-Workers
Previous
Requests
Services
Trusting
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I can go into LinkedIn and search for network engineers and come up with a list of great spear-phishing targets because they usually have administrator rights over the network. Then I go onto Twitter or Facebook and trick them into doing something, and I have privileged access.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Access
Engineers
Linkedin
Lists
Privileged
Rights
Target
Administrator
Facebook
Trick
Network
Onto
Search
Targets
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I think a cyber-terrorism attack is overblown, though the threat exists. I think al Qaeda and other groups are more interested in symbolic terrorism, like what they did to the World Trade Center - suicide bombers or something that really has an effect and is meaningful to people.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Bombers
Groups
Meaningful
Symbolic
Terrorism
World Trade
World Trade Center
Al
Attack
Center
Effect
Exists
Qaeda
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The first programming assignment I had in high school was to find the first 100 Fibonacci numbers. Instead, I thought it would be cooler to write a program to get the teacher's password and all the other students' passwords. And the teacher gave me an A and told the class how smart I was.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Numbers
Program
Programming
Assignment
Cooler
Copy Quote
When an attacker fails with one person, they often go to another person. The key is to report the attack to other departments. Workers should know to act like they are going along with what the hacker wants and take copious notes so the company will know what the hacker is trying to find.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Keys
Notes
Trying
Want
Workers
Attack
Report
Departments
Fails
Hacker
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The government does things like insisting that all encryption programs should have a back door. But surely no one is stupid enough to think the terrorists are going to use encryption systems with a back door. The terrorists will simply hire a programmer to come up with a secure encryption scheme.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Encryption
Insisting
Secure
Stupid
Back Door
Simply
Door
Scheme
Hire
Programs
Programmer
Surely
Systems
Terrorists
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Companies spend millions of dollars on firewalls, encryption, and secure access devices and it's money wasted because none of these measures address the weakest link in the security chain: the people who use, administer, operate and account for computer systems that contain protected information.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Money
Access
Computer
Devices
Dollars
Encryption
Information
Millions
People
Protected
Secure
Use
Weakest Link
Because
Address
Administer
Who
Chain
Companies
Contain
Spend
Wasted
Link
Measures
Millions Of Dollars
None
Operate
Systems
Weakest
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I started with CB radio, ham radio, and eventually went into computers. And I was just fascinated with it. And back then, when I was in school, computer hacking was encouraged. It was an encouraged activity. In fact, I remember one of the projects my teacher gave me was writing a log-in simulator.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Computers
Fascinated
Hacking
Ham
Teacher Me Remember
Encouraged
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It's kind of interesting, because hacking is a skill that could be used for criminal purposes or legitimate purposes, and so even though in the past I was hacking for the curiosity, and the thrill, to get a bite of the forbidden fruit of knowledge, I'm now working in the security field as a public speaker.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Curiosity
Forbidden
Hacking
Thrill
Bite
Criminal
In The Past
Speaker
Purposes
Skill
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I use Mac. Not because it's more secure than everything else - because it is actually less secure than Windows - but I use it because it is still under the radar. People who write malicious code want the greatest return on their investment, so they target Windows systems. I still work with Windows in virtual machines.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Code
Investment
Machines
Malicious
People
Radar
Return
Secure
Target
Writing
Everything Else
Mac
Systems
Virtual
Windows
Copy Quote
A company can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on firewalls, intrusion detection systems and encryption and other security technologies, but if an attacker can call one trusted person within the company, and that person complies, and if the attacker gets in, then all that money spent on technology is essentially wasted.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Money
Technology
Company
Detection
Dollars
Encryption
Intrusion
Safety
Security
Trusted
Person
Within
Then
Call
Essentially
Gets
Spend
Wasted
Hundreds
Hundreds Of Thousands
Other
Spent
Systems
Technologies
Thousands
Copy Quote
Think about it: if you were running a multi-million dollar company, and your database of customer information was stolen, would you want to tell your clients? No. Most companies did not until the laws required them to. It's in the best interest of organisations - when they're attacked and information is stolen - to tell nobody.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Clients
Stolen
Attacked
Customer
Database
Dollar
Organisations
Required
Copy Quote
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 / Consultant
Cards
Detection
Intrusion
Misconception
Products
Secure
Site
Stronger
Administrator
Businesses
Deployed
Exploited
Standard
Smaller
System
Copy Quote
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 / Consultant
Computer
Multiple
Office
Site
Everywhere
Your People Control
Complete
Compromises
Document
File
Hacker
Major
Major Problem
Send
Soon
Trap
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For the average home-user, anti-virus software is a must. A personal firewall such as Zone Alarm and running a program like HFNetcheck, which is a free download for personal users. It checks your system to see if anything needs to be patched. I'd also recommend a program such as SpyCop to periodically check for any spyware on your system.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Running
Average
Needs
Program
Software
Users
Zone
Alarm
Free
Anti-Virus
Check
Download
Personal
Recommend
System
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One of my all-time favorite pranks was gaining unauthorized access to the telephone switch and changing the class of service of a fellow phone phreak. When he'd attempt to make a call from home, he'd get a message telling him to deposit a dime, because the telephone company switch received input that indicated he was calling from a pay phone.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Access
All Time
Input
Pranks
Attempt
Deposit
Dime
Phone
Fellow
Gaining
Received
Switch
Telephone
Copy Quote
People are prone to taking mental shortcuts. They may know that they shouldn't give out certain information, but the fear of not being nice, the fear of appearing ignorant, the fear of a perceived authority figure - all these are triggers, which can be used by a social engineer to convince a person to override established security procedures.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
Appearing
Authority
Being Nice
Convince
Ignorant
Information
Procedures
Security
Shortcuts
Triggers
Established
Engineer
Figure
Prone
Mental
Override
Perceived
Copy Quote
The methods that will most effectively minimize the ability of intruders to compromise information security are comprehensive user training and education. Enacting policies and procedures simply won't suffice. Even with oversight the policies and procedures may not be effective: my access to Motorola, Nokia, ATT, Sun depended upon the willingness of people to bypass policies and procedures that were in place for years before I compromised them successfully.
Kevin Mitnick / Consultant
People
Policies And Procedures
Years
Copy Quote

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