Kevin Mitnick

“We have problems with our physical security, operational security through to management.”

“It doesn't work the same way everywhere. The Americans are the most gullible, because they don't like to deny co-workers' requests. People in the former Soviet bloc countries are less trusting, perhaps because of their previous experiences with their countries' secret services.”

“Penetrating a company's security often starts with the bad guy obtaining some piece of information that seems so innocent, so everyday and unimportant, that most people in the organization don't see any reason why the item should be protected and restricted.”

“When an attacker fails with one person, they often go to another person. The key is to report the attack to other departments. Workers should know to act like they are going along with what the hacker wants and take copious notes so the company will know what the hacker is trying to find.”

“I think a cyber-terrorism attack is overblown, though the threat exists. I think al Qaeda and other groups are more interested in symbolic terrorism, like what they did to the World Trade Center - suicide bombers or something that really has an effect and is meaningful to people.”

“I wasn't a hacker for the money, and it wasn't to cause damage.”

“Of course I'm sure half the people there hate me and half the people like me.”

“I don't know of any case that involves computer hacking where there were multiple defendants charged where there wasn't an informant on the case.”

“I happen to be notorious. That, I have no control over.”

“I made stupid decisions as a kid, or as a young adult, but I'm trying to be now, I'm trying to take this lemon and make lemonade.”

“The perfect PIN is not four digits and not associated with your life, like an old telephone number. It's something easy for you to remember and hard for other people to guess.”

“A lot of companies are clueless, because they spend most or all of their security budget on high-tech security like fire walls and biometric authentication - which are important and needed - but then they don't train their people.”

“Are hackers a threat? The degree of threat presented by any conduct, whether legal or illegal, depends on the actions and intent of the individual and the harm they cause.”

“Hackers are becoming more sophisticated in conjuring up new ways to hijack your system by exploiting technical vulnerabilities or human nature. Don't become the next victim of unscrupulous cyberspace intruders.”

“Back in my day, I would probe by hand. Now you can get commercial software that does the job for you.”

“As a young boy, I was taught in high school that hacking was cool.”

“Think about it: if you were running a multi-million dollar company, and your database of customer information was stolen, would you want to tell your clients? No. Most companies did not until the laws required them to. It's in the best interest of organisations - when they're attacked and information is stolen - to tell nobody.”

“Phone phreaking is a type of hacking that allows you to explore the telephone network by exploiting the phone systems and phone company employees.”

“I believe in having each device secured and monitoring each device, rather than just monitoring holistically on the network, and then responding in short enough time for damage control.”

“I was an accomplished computer trespasser. I don't consider myself a thief. I copied without permission.”