The Fugitive Game

Online with Kevin Mitnick

Jonathan Littman

Publisher: Little, Brown, 1996, 383 pages

ISBN: 0-316-52858-7

Keywords: Biography

Last modified: April 7, 2021, 12:20 a.m.

Kevin David Mitnick was cyberspace's most wanted hacker. Mitnick could launch missiles or cripple the world's financial markets with a single phone call — or so went the myth. The FBI, phone companies, bounty hunters, even fellow hackers pursued him over the Internet and through cellular airways. But while Mitnick's alleged crimes have been widely publisized, his story has never been told.

Now, Jonathan Littman takes us into the mind of a serial hacker. Drawing on over fifty hours of telephone conversations with Mitnick on the run, Littman reveals Mitnick's double life; his narrow escapes; his new identities, complete with college degrees of his choosing; his hacking techniques and mastery of "social engineering"; his obsession with revenge.

It is a journey into a bizarre hacker counterculture studded with an eclectic supporting cast that includes an exotic dancer, a pimp, and technically outmatched FBI agents. Mitnick's story begins in Hollywood when a adomasochistic FBI informant entices Mitnick with the ultimate hacker tool: the power to wiretap anybody, anywhere, anytime. While fleeing from the FBI, Mitnick became a legendary outlaw — his spectacular alleged crimes landing him twice on the front page of the New York Times. When the FBI proved incapable of capturing him, Tsutomu Shimomura, an enigmatic Japanese security expert, set out to nab the hacker in the name of honor.

The electrnic adventure story that emerges reads like a spy thriller. But it also raises questions about Internet security and tensions between constitutional rights of privacy and law enforcement. Did corporations, members of the media, and law enforcement use illegal or unconstitutional means to capture Mitnick, as he alleges? And why was Mitnick, who allegedly stole thousands of credit cards, found livingin a modest appartement, working at a regular job?

Drawing from extensive interviews with Mitnick and a host of startling new facts, The Fugitive Game uncovers the true story behind the twentieth century's most dramatic electronic case.

  • Part I
    • Agent Steal
    • The Call
    • Pending Investigation
    • The Tap
    • Summer Con
    • Private Eye
    • Wipe
    • Early Departure
  • Part II
    • The Garbage Man
    • Fresh Air
    • The Other Half
    • Career Counseling
    • Three-Way
    • Dear Janet
    • Press Tactics
    • Seattle
    • The Well
    • The Hunt
    • Data Thief
    • Natural Born Killers
    • Cut Off
    • Last Call
    • Overseas
    • Skip Jacker
    • Suitcase
    • The Raid
  • Part III
    • December 27-30, 1994
    • January 8, 1995
    • January 17, 1995
    • Morning, January 19, 1995
    • Afternoon, January 19, 1995
    • Night, January 19, 1995
    • Morning, January 20, 1995
    • Night, January 20, 1995
    • January 21-23, 1995
    • January 29, 1995
    • February 1-2, 1995
    • February 5-9, 1995
    • February 12, 1995
  • Part IV
    • February 15, 1995
    • The Front Page
    • The Evening News
    • The Show
    • Meet the Press
    • Big Time
    • The Silver Screen
  • Part V
    • The Well
    • Emmanuel
    • Probably Cause

Reviews

The Fugitive Game

Reviewed by Roland Buresund

Bad ** (2 out of 10)

Last modified: July 23, 2008, 6:05 p.m.

A book about Kevin Mitnick and friends. Pretty ridicilous.

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