The Art of Deception_ Controlling the Human Element of Security - Kevin D. Mitnick [171]
My aunt Chickie Leventhal will always have a special place in my heart; although she was disappointed with some of the stupid mistakes I’ve made, nevertheless she was always there for me, offering her love and support. During my intense devotion to writing this book, I sacrificed many opportunities to join her, my cousin, Mitch Leventhal, and her boyfriend, Dr. Robert Berkowitz, for our weekly Shabbat celebration.
I must also give my warmest thanks to my mother’s boyfriend, Steven Knittle, who was there to fill in for me and provide my mother with love and support.
My dad’s brother clearly deserves much praise; one could say I inherited my craft of social engineering from Uncle Mitchell, who knew how to manipulate the world and its people in ways that I never even hope to understand, much less master. Lucky for him, he never had my passion for computing technology during the years he used his charming personality to influence anyone he desired. He will always hold the title of the grand-master social engineer.
And as I write these acknowledgements, I realize I have so many people to thank and to express appreciation to for offering their love, friendship, and support. I cannot begin to remember the names of all the kind and generous people that I’ve met in recent years, but suffice it to say I would need a computer to store them all. There have been so many people from all over the world who have written to me with words of encouragement, praise, and support. These words have meant a great deal to me, especially during the times I needed it most.
I’m especially thankful to all my supporters who stood by me and spent their valuable time and energy getting the word out to anyone who would listen, voicing their concern and objection over my unfair treatment and the hyperbole created by those who sought to profit from the “The Myth of Kevin Mitnick.”
I have had the extraordinary fortune of being teamed up with best-selling author Bill Simon, and we worked diligently together despite our different work patterns. Bill is highly organized, rises early, and works in a deliberate and well-planned style. I’m grateful that Bill was kind enough to accommodate my late-night work schedule. My dedication to this project and long working hours kept me up well into the early morning that conflicted with Bill’s regular working schedule.
Not only was I lucky to be teamed with someone who could transform my ideas into sentences worthy of a sophisticated reader, but also Bill is (mostly) a very patient man who put up with my programmer’s style of focusing on the details. Indeed we made it happen. Still, I want to apologize to Bill in these acknowledgments that I will always regret being the one, because of my orientation to accuracy and detail, who caused him to be late for a deadline for the first and only time in his long writing career. He has a writer’s pride that I have finally come to understand and share; we hope to do other books together.
The delight of being at the Simon home in Rancho Santa Fe to work and to be pampered by Bill’s wife, Arynne, could be considered a highlight of this writing project. Arynne’s conversation and cooking will battle in my memory for first place. She is a lady of quality and wisdom, full of fun, who has created a home of warmth and beauty. And I’ll never drink a diet soda again without hearing Arynne’s voice in the back of my mind admonishing me on the dangers of Aspartame.
Stacey Kirkland means a great deal to me. She has dedicated many hours of her time assisting me on the Macintosh to design the charts and graphics that helped