You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
maddelleine 's review for:
The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security
by William L. Simon, Kevin D. Mitnick
funny
informative
slow-paced
I enjoyed the narrative I first found in <i>Ghost in the Wires</i>, this time not with Kevin Mitnick's examples, but with other conmen's experiences.
The risks themselves and security issues tend to get a little repetitive and the chapters which are actually useful (meaning they serve as a manual of sorts for implementing security measures in companies) are a bit of a slog (I know there are better ways to write them, but I can't think of any).
The book was first published a whooping 24 years ago (2001; and at the time of writing this review, we're in 2025). Therefore, it's only to be expected that some things and examples are outdated (eg. using floppy disks or even CD ROMS, now largely out of use; fax machines; lack of more recent developments such as 2FA, facial recognition for signing in and other newer methods).
However, some conning methods will probably remain timeless and it's always good to be on the lookout for possible security breaches, giving out information just assuming that the other person is who they say they are (too many examples of conmen who got what they wanted by simply convincing the people targeted that they were in the right to be there and ask for that info) or taking care to set different passwords for different things, with a strong build (now certain apps/ platforms/ websites don't even allow weak passwords anymore) and changed regularly.
The risks themselves and security issues tend to get a little repetitive and the chapters which are actually useful (meaning they serve as a manual of sorts for implementing security measures in companies) are a bit of a slog (I know there are better ways to write them, but I can't think of any).
The book was first published a whooping 24 years ago (2001; and at the time of writing this review, we're in 2025). Therefore, it's only to be expected that some things and examples are outdated (eg. using floppy disks or even CD ROMS, now largely out of use; fax machines; lack of more recent developments such as 2FA, facial recognition for signing in and other newer methods).
However, some conning methods will probably remain timeless and it's always good to be on the lookout for possible security breaches, giving out information just assuming that the other person is who they say they are (too many examples of conmen who got what they wanted by simply convincing the people targeted that they were in the right to be there and ask for that info) or taking care to set different passwords for different things, with a strong build (now certain apps/ platforms/ websites don't even allow weak passwords anymore) and changed regularly.