Takedown

What Hacker News says

1. olalondeJun 2026
   I did not realize Mitnick had passed away, very sad. I first learned about him as a kid through the book Takedown, and his exploits definitely fueled my early fascination with computers and hacking. It's heartwarming to see how he later befriended Shawn Nunley, though it's unfortunate that he and Shimomura apparently never buried the hatchet. He undoubtedly influenced an entire generation of hackers, RIP.
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2. larrywrightJul 2023
   I really enjoyed the book Takedown, about Shimomura's pursuit of Mitnick - I must have read it three or four times. I always wondered what happened to Shimomura, since he just seemed to drop out of sight after that book came out.
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3. mindcrimeDec 2021
   I don't know if I really even believe in the idea of "must read" books, but here are at least a few I highly recommend. In no particular order.

   FICTION

   The Mysterious Island - Verne

   The Time Machine - Wells

   Nineteen Eighty-Four - Orwell

   Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury

   Brave New World - Huxley

   Snow Crash - Stephenson

   The Shockwave Rider - Brunner

   The Fountainhead - Rand

   Cryptonomicon - Stephenson

   The Foundation trilogy - Asimov

   Something Wicked This Way Comes - Bradbury

   Strangers - Koontz

   After Dark - Murakami

   It - King

   The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien

   The Hobbit - Tolkien

   Perdido Street Station - Miéville

   Permutation City - Egan

   Glasshouse - Stross

   NON-FICTION

   Report from Engine Co 82 - Smith

   Godel, Escher, Bach - Hofstadter

   How the Mind Works - Pinker

   The Four Steps to the Epiphany - Blank

   Charles Proteus Steinmetz: The Electrical Wizard of Schenectady - Bly

   Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - Levy

   Artificial Life - Levy

   Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier - Haffner & Markoff (Note: this book is not without controvery. There is a lot of debate about the veracity of much of the material on Mitnick. However, it is a wildly entertaining read, and an introduction to a number of interesting characters. But I'd suggest following up by reading other related titles, especially regarding Kevin Mitnick)

   Ghost in the Wires - Mitnick (Mitnick's autogiography, basically)

   Takedown - Shimomura & Markoff

   The Fugitive Game - Littman (of the books written about Mitnick, but not by Mitnick, this one has a reputation for being a little more "pro Kevin" whereas a couple of the others are sort of pointedly "anti Kevin" in their bias. Maybe it all balances out in the end if you read them all).

   The Cyberthief & the Samurai - Goodell

   The Cuckoo's Egg - Stoll

   How To Create A Mind - Kurzweil

   On Intelligence - Hawkins

   Engineering General Intelligence (volumes 1 & 2) - Goertzel

   The Hidden Pattern - Goertzel

   Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity - Wallace

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4. w8rbtJul 2018
   Stingrays were being used as early as the 1990s by federal law enforcement. They were used to help locate Kevin Mitnick in North Carolina.

   Edit - I recall reading that years ago in Tsutomu Shimomura's book 'Takedown' (published in 1996). Outside of this, I have no other reference. It's a good read BTW. https://www.amazon.com/Takedown-Pursuit-Capture-Americas-Com...

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5. n3on_netDec 2015
   I read all three of the Kevins books and like "Ghost in Wire" the most. It is a really nice and interesting biography.

   If you want to have the other side of the story, then I would also recommend "Takedown" from John Markoff.

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6. softdev12Mar 2015
   I really enjoyed Ghost in the Wires (basically Mitnick's bio). I had first read Takedown by Tsutomo Shimomura which told of Mitnick's pursuit by the guy who ended up help to catch him. "Wires" was the other side - what Mitnick did when he was on the run - and his side of how he was finally caught. Really interesting stuff. It was like the Rashomon effect[1].

   http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-Worlds-Wanted/d...

   http://www.amazon.com/Takedown-Pursuit-Capture-Americas-Comp...

   [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashomon_effect

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