The Art of Deception

One of the groups that presented on Wednesday did two books instead of one, like the rest of the class (over achiever's...just kidding). But one of the books that was presented was called The Art of Deception by Kevin D. Mitnick. This book describes ways of getting into someones computer system and "crackering" it (I just learned that hacking into a computer is used in the wrong sense, but instead should be called crackering because hackers were known as good people in yester years). Obviously, by illegally getting into someones computer system can cause harm to that individual in many ways, depending on what kind of information can be found. Kevin Mitnick pulled a trick, such as this, and because of his actions he was held in jail for 4 and a 1/2 years waiting for his trial. He may even be the reason why many crimes that are committed today are even considered a crime. Mr. Mitnick committed crimes before they even became crimes, according to the presenters, and was once the FBI's most wanted hacker. One of the key points that this group discussed (and we briefly discussed it in our presentation) was "you can protect yourself with all the security but still not be safe". This is a scary thing to think about because no matter what, if a person whats to find you then they will some how make it possible.

A couple ways to keep yourself as safe as possible would be to make sure everyone who may come into contact with your computers, whether it be a business computer or at school even, that they are safe. DO NOT give out your password, and make sure to track all individuals you may deal with on a regular basis, for example, delivery workers or employees.