"It's kind of interesting, because hacking is a skill that could be used for criminal purposes or legitimate purposes, and so even though in the past I was hacking for the curiosity, and the thrill, to get a bite of the forbidden fruit of knowledge, I'm now working in the security field as a public speaker."

Wisdom

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Wisdom as articulated by Kevin Mitnick. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Wisdom provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About Kevin Mitnick

Kevin David Mitnick was an American computer security consultant, author, and convicted hacker. In 1995, he was arrested for various computer and communications-related crimes, and spent five years in prison after being convicted of fraud and illegally intercepting communications.
Mitnick's pursuit, arrest, trial and sentence were all controversial, as were the associated media coverage, books, and films, with his supporters arguing that his punishment was excessive and that many of the charges against him were fraudulent, and not based on actual losses. After his release from prison, he ran his own security firm, Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC, and was also involved with other computer security businesses.

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More by Kevin Mitnick

"A company can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on firewalls, intrusion detection systems and encryption and other security technologies, but if an attacker can call one trusted person within the company, and that person complies, and if the attacker gets in, then all that money spent on technology is essentially wasted."

— Kevin Mitnick
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"Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Inc, which set the computing world on its ear with the Macintosh in 1984."

— Kevin Mitnick
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"I get hired to hack into computers now and sometimes it's actually easier than it was years ago."

— Kevin Mitnick
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"No way, no how did I break into NORAD. That's a complete myth. And I never attempted to access anything considered to be classified government systems."

— Kevin Mitnick
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More about Wisdom

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."

— Charles Dickens
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"Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning."

— William Arthur Ward
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"Wisdom principle 36 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 1."

— Voltaire
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"I can't relate to lazy people. We don't speak the same language. I don't understand you. I don't want to understand you."

— Kobe Bryant
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