WingNews logo WingNews GitHub [2]
top | item 17058880

Takedown (1995)

35 points| brudgers | 7 years ago |takedown.com | reply

39 comments

order
[+] Simulacra|7 years ago|reply
I grew up as a huge Mitnick fan, and I still am. He was vilified and used as the poster boy for all computer hackers, phreakers, and the lot - unfairly I think. Takedown was one of the most dry and dull books I've ever read, and John Markoff should be ashamed of himself. Read Mitnick's book, Ghost in the Wires. So much better.
[+] jason_slack|7 years ago|reply
Thanks, this is nostalgic. I remember reading this several times back around 1996. Mitnick felt like a hero to me back then.
[+] watwut|7 years ago|reply
To me too in a way. It all looked cool. It was only later then I started to see the way we valorize bad actors as a bad thing about culture. Someone who does bad things is automatically treated as smarter then someone who has good ethics and cares about his impact on others.
[+] brudgers|7 years ago|reply
It's nostalgic too, I read Takedown over the Atlantic on my honeymoon.
[+] tptacek|7 years ago|reply
... why?
[+] hal9000xp|7 years ago|reply
I recommend to watch movie based on Kevin Mitnick story:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_Down

I couldn't say it's very accurate story but it's still fun to watch.

[+] partycoder|7 years ago|reply
99% of it never happened and what actually "happened" was over-dramatized.

They exaggerated so much that Mitnick was sent to a maximum security jail.

[+] Fnoord|7 years ago|reply
This movie is known as Takedown in the rest of the world, and it is not fun to watch, nor does it cover Mitnick's side of the story: "Track Down (also known as Takedown outside the United States), is a 2000 film about computer hacker Kevin Mitnick, based on the book Takedown by John Markoff and Tsutomu Shimomura."

Watch the documentary Freedom Downtime by Eric "Emmanuel Goldstein" Corley and read Mitnick's book, Ghost in the Wires. Written by Mitnick after his probation terms were expired. Dude's got humor, and its written in a way which is both fun and suspense. Whether it is accurate, who knows, but it is from his perspective.

[+] Fnoord|7 years ago|reply
For a historic account of US phreaking (not Mitnick-specific), check out the book "Exploding the Phone: The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws who Hacked Ma Bell". Its worth as much as its long title. It even contains a historic account of the US (and international) phone system and how the monopolies came around. I read it because it was all just before my time (I'm mid 30s now). People who were blind phreaking by whistling. Insane!

(Mitnick-specific I can also recommend the docu Freedom Downtime and the book Ghost in the Wires but I've seen both already covered in other posts.)

[+] lern_too_spel|7 years ago|reply
I don't get the Mitnick worship. He was an unrepentant script kiddie, and when he harrassed Shimomura, a legitimate genius (https://www.quora.com/Would-someone-with-an-IQ-of-170-easily...), he got what was coming.
[+] jm__87|7 years ago|reply
While I'm sure Shimomura is a genius, however you define that, I can't help but roll my eyes whenever I see another post about IQ on Quora. If IQ truly even measured raw intelligence, that doesn't get you very far in life. To do anything with that intelligence you need to put in a lot of effort and this requires things like time management, stress management, discipline, focus and drive. I'd rather bet on the person who is high in those 5 attributes I just mentioned but with an average IQ over someone with high IQ but who is only average on those 5 attributes.
[+] leetcrew|7 years ago|reply
the dude wiretapped the FBI. it doesn't get much more badass than that.
[+] lloydde|7 years ago|reply
http://www.freedomdowntime.com/ “A feature length documentary about the Free Kevin movement and the hacker world.”

John Markoff sensationalized events and villified Kevin Mitnick.

[+] sigfubar|7 years ago|reply
It's a shame that all these years later nobody else knows who JSZ is.