Prior to the publication of "Art of Deception", the publishers Wiley and Sons received a letter threatening legal action on the part of John Markoff, the New York Times hack (sic) who played a key role in Mitnick's demonisation. As a result this chapter was pulled from the book. Fortunately the lost lines appeared miraculously in a yahoo group earlier this month, and it is provided below for your edification.

The account is interesting in several respects. First it demonstrates the shortsightedness of security through obscurity, or a reliance on smart technical fixes for the provision of assurance and safety. Given the continuing tendency towards security culture in political circles the sections on social engineering should act as reminder that most vulnerabilities are human. Secondly it demonstrates the connivance in the criminalization process between respected media mouthpieces and the state. Mitnick's case, along with those of LaMachia and Morris, were seminal from this point of view and established the trend for the decade. Third, he is candid about the very superficial nature of hacker rebellion, which often morphs into betrayal and collaboration with the state and businness without skipping a beat.

Enjoy.Kevin's Story