Home / Quotes / Quote by Kevin Mitnick

Quote by Kevin Mitnick

“I was addicted to hacking, more for the intellectual challenge, the curiosity, the seduction of adventure; not for stealing, or causing damage or writing computer viruses.”

Quote by Kevin Mitnick

Author

Kevin Mitnick, born on August 6, 1963, is a renowned computer security consultant. He is known for his exceptional skills in the field of hacking and was once the FBI's most wanted fugitive for illegal computer system intrusions. After his release from prison, Mitnick transformed into a computer security expert, providing consulting services to businesses to help them prevent cyber attacks. more

You May Also Like

“I'm still a hacker. I get paid for it now. I never received any monetary gain from the hacking I did before. The main difference in what I do now compared to what I did then is that I now do it with authorization.”

Stills Differences Gains Paid Monetary Hacking Hackers

Book:Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker

Source: Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker

“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.”

Knows Want Should Trying Persons Company Failing Keys Notes Workers Department Reports Hackers

Author:Kevin Mitnick

“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.”

Bigs Able Used Social Vulnerability Appropriate Engineering Hybrid Social Engineering

Author:Kevin Mitnick

“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.”

“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.”

I Can Rights Come Up Access Lists Tricks Target Engineers Privileged Spears Administrators Linkedin

Author:Kevin Mitnick

“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.”

People Way Country Secret Workers Deny Former Soviet Request Gullible Co Worker Secret Service

Author:Kevin Mitnick

“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.”

Ifs Company Security Source Becoming Code If I Could Copies Bugs Hacking Hackers Hacked Computer Hacking

Author:Kevin Mitnick

“No company that I ever hacked into reported any damages, which they were required to do for significant losses. Sun didn't stop using Solaris and DEC didn't stop using VMS.”

Loss Company Sun Significant Damage Hacked Solaris

Author: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.”

Way Government Break Myth Access

Author:Kevin Mitnick

“So what I was essentially doing was, I compromised the confidentiality of their proprietary software to advance my agenda of becoming the best at breaking through the lock.”

Becoming Agendas Software Locks Breaking Silence Confidentiality Becoming The Best

Author:Kevin Mitnick