Former hacker Kevin Poulsen has, over the past decade, built a reputation as one of the top investigative reporters on the cybercrime beat. In Kingpin, he pours his unmatched access and expertise into book form for the first time, delivering a gripping cat-and-mouse narrative—and an unprecedented view into the twenty-first century’s signature form of organized crime.

The word spread through the hacking underground like some unstoppable new virus: Someone—some brilliant, audacious crook—had just staged a hostile takeover of an online criminal network that siphoned billions of dollars from the US economy.

The FBI rushed to launch an ambitious undercover operation aimed at tracking down this new kingpin; other agencies around the world deployed dozens of moles and double agents. Together, the cybercops lured numerous unsuspecting hackers into their clutches. . . . Yet at every turn, their main quarry displayed an uncanny ability to sniff out their snitches and see through their plots.

The culprit they sought was the most unlikely of criminals: a brilliant programmer with a hippie ethic and a supervillain’s double identity. As prominent “white-hat” hacker Max “Vision” Butler, he was a celebrity throughout the programming world, even serving as a consultant to the FBI. But as the black-hat “Iceman,” he found in the world of data theft an irresistible opportunity to test his outsized abilities. He infiltrated thousands of computers around the country, sucking down millions of credit card numbers at will. He effortlessly hacked his fellow hackers, stealing their ill-gotten gains from under their noses. Together with a smooth-talking con artist, he ran a massive real-world crime ring.

And for years, he did it all with seeming impunity, even as countless rivals ran afoul of police.

Yet as he watched the fraudsters around him squabble, their ranks riddled with infiltrators, their methods inefficient, he began to see in their dysfunction the ultimate challenge: He would stage his coup and fix what was broken, run things as they should be run—even if it meant painting a bull’s-eye on his forehead.

Through the story of this criminal’s remarkable rise, and of law enforcement’s quest to track him down, Kingpin lays bare the workings of a silent crime wave still affecting millions of Americans. In these pages, we are ushered into vast online-fraud supermarkets stocked with credit card numbers, counterfeit checks, hacked bank accounts, dead drops, and fake passports. We learn the workings of the numerous hacks—browser exploits, phishing attacks, Trojan horses, and much more—these fraudsters use to ply their trade, and trace the complex routes by which they turn stolen data into millions of dollars. And thanks to Poulsen’s remarkable access to both cops and criminals, we step inside the quiet, desperate arms race that law enforcement continues to fight with these scammers today.

Ultimately, Kingpin is a journey into an underworld of startling scope and power, one in which ordinary American teenagers work hand in hand with murderous Russian mobsters and where a simple Wi-Fi connection can unleash a torrent of gold worth millions.

‘Terse and snappy, it reads like Raymond Chandler and provides detailed insight into a time in computer history that already seems quaint. Kevin Mitnick was and is a true Internet pioneer’ John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; known as the Thomas Jefferson of cyberspace ‘Intriguing, insightful and extremely educational into the mind of one who truly mastered the art of social engineering with the use of a computer and modern day technologies’ Frank W. Abagnale, author of Catch Me if You Can ‘At last, America’s most famous hacker tells his headline-making story from his own point of view. The result is more than just a meticulous chronicle of Kevin Mitnick’s hacks – it’s an expose of the invisible bureaucratic machinery underlying nearly every aspect of our lives, and how easily it’s subverted by a smooth-taking grifter who sees all the moving parts. A fascinating read’ Kevin Poulsen, author of Kingpin: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion Dollar Cyber Crime Underground
Book Description
Kevin Mitnick’s long-awaited memoir of computer hacking and FBI skirting, revealed now after seven years of government-mandated silence.

Kevin Mitnick, the world’s most wanted computer hacker, managed to hack into some of the country’s most powerful – and seemingly impenetrable – agencies and companies. By conning employees into giving him private information and maneuvering through layers of security, he gained access to data that no one else could. The suspenseful heart of the book unfolds as Mitnick disappears on a three-year run from the FBI. He creates fake identities, finds jobs at a law firm and hospital, and keeps tabs on his myriad pursuers – all while continuing to hack into computer systems and phone company switches that were considered flawless. A modern, technology-driven adventure story, GHOST IN THE WIRES is a dramatic account of the joy of outsmarting security programs, the satisfaction of code-cracking, and the thrill of unbelievable escape.
About the Author
The world’s most famous (former) computer hacker has been the subject of countless news and magazine articles and one-time ‘most wanted’ criminal of cyberspace, on the run from the bewildered Feds. Now a security consultant, he has spoken to audiences at conventions around the world, been on dozens of major national TV and radio shows and testified in front of Congress.