JJ rated Ghost in the Wires: 5 stars

Ghost in the Wires by Kevin D. Mitnick
Kevin Mitnick was the most elusive computer break-in artist in history.
He accessed computers and networks at the world's …
I like reading about cybersecurity, fantasy, science fiction, horror and veganism 🌱✌️
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Kevin Mitnick was the most elusive computer break-in artist in history.
He accessed computers and networks at the world's …
2 stars I’m not quite enjoying this book tbh. Mikko is a fascinating character, but this book doesn’t explore his personality or experience more than at a surface level. It covers some basic concepts of security in everyday terms, but doesn’t really provoke any thoughts or attempts to go beyond some surface level definitions and stories.
The book is divided into very short, numerous stories and definitions, which adds up to the lack of depth of any interesting concepts at all, but at least they make it somewhat easier to read.
Also, info about bitcoin and the blockchain are not really accurate on today's knowledge around the blockchain. Mikko claims that for example, stolen bitcoin don’t need to be laundered and categorizes it as almost anonymous - That’s not correct as proven by the traceability of the Blockchain and laundering services like TornadoCash.
The original title for …
2 stars I’m not quite enjoying this book tbh. Mikko is a fascinating character, but this book doesn’t explore his personality or experience more than at a surface level. It covers some basic concepts of security in everyday terms, but doesn’t really provoke any thoughts or attempts to go beyond some surface level definitions and stories.
The book is divided into very short, numerous stories and definitions, which adds up to the lack of depth of any interesting concepts at all, but at least they make it somewhat easier to read.
Also, info about bitcoin and the blockchain are not really accurate on today's knowledge around the blockchain. Mikko claims that for example, stolen bitcoin don’t need to be laundered and categorizes it as almost anonymous - That’s not correct as proven by the traceability of the Blockchain and laundering services like TornadoCash.
The original title for this book in Finnish is way more accurate (”Internet”), as this book kind of ends up being a summary of some common internet terms, observed through the lens of security, without any depth to any of the terms or stories - And that is a shame, as I really believe Mikko has fantastic stories to tell.
One of the few books that actually spooked me and kept me awake for a bit. The book starts very strong and although it slows its pace towards the end, I still quite enjoyed it. Great, original story and would love to see it brought to the cinema or as a TV show.

The shocking untold story of the elite secret society of hackers fighting to protect our privacy, our freedom -- even …
Pretty interesting story of teenage hacker scenes from 2010s to 2025, going from Lulzsec to The Com/Scattered Spider. The book focuses on the character of Julius Kivimaki and his evolution through some of these more notorious Hacking Groups during his early teens, as well as his trial and punishment in the 2020s. One of the parts of this book that drove me mad was knowing how many times police had interacted with Kivimaki or even arrested him without any effects on his online activity.
For anybody interested in this story, they should also check out the 4 part documentary released around the same time, Most Wanted: Teen Hacker
Content warning Light Spoilers, nothing major
It has been a long time since I enjoyed a book like I’ve enjoyed Mistborn. The book starts very interesting, and although it slows down a bit when Vin starts to infiltrate into the Noble faction, it makes sense for the plot to slow down at that point.
The last 200 pages are a masterpiece though and I really enjoyed it. Even though the book is super long, it really had me wanting to start the next one right away.