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The Art of Invisibility

the World's Most Famous Hacker Teaches You How to Be Safe in the Age of Big Brother and Big Data
May 11, 2017Wilddonkey rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
The Art of Invisibility is a great book. Kevin Mitnick knows privacy from both sides of the law having done hard jail time for hacking. I have no idea whether his incarceration was justified, but I think the Art of Invisibility is enhanced by his experience. I know well the technology he describes in the book and I believe he is a trustworthy and knowledgeable source. You can follow his advice. But will I recommend his book to my friends and colleagues? For journalists, political activists, whistle-blowers, and others who are compelled to keep secrets, The Art of Invisibility, with one reservation, is a reliable handbook, but what about the rest of us who worry about privacy, but for whom online privacy is not an existential threat? For those folks, The Art of Invisibility may be good reading, but probably not the best source. The challenge facing most of us is to pick out a reasonable plan for privacy that does not place us in a glass house, but, at the same time, is not so onerous as to hide ourselves in a self-imposed dungeon. For that purpose, The Art of Invisibility is not so good. Should I use Tor? Do I need a VPN? How can I decide? These questions are the crucial for most of us. The Art of Invisibility shows us how to hide, but does not help us much in deciding when hiding is necessary. Kevin provides many detailed instructions for setting up a private environment. This is a strength and a weakness. As I write this, 3 months after The Art of Invisibility was published, his instructions are great. Six months from now, some of them will be confusing as technology changes. A year from now, some of those instructions will be flat out wrong. That's the way technology works. This is my caution to someone who needs privacy badly: Kevin's recommendations are great today, but they are bound to be sub-optimal in a few months. For the right audience, this is a great book. For many readers, I fear it will be hard reading and confusing.