October 8, 2015: Hacking - Kevin Mitnick

Art Bell welcomes Kevin Mitnick, once the FBI's most wanted hacker, for a conversation about computer security, social engineering, and his extraordinary life as a fugitive. Kevin traces his path from childhood magic enthusiast to phone phreak to federal prisoner, explaining how his fascination with understanding systems led him to compromise 40 major corporations and spend years evading federal authorities.

Kevin shares gripping stories from his fugitive years, including setting up an early warning system that monitored FBI agents' cell phones, leaving a box labeled "FBI Donuts" in his refrigerator the night before a raid, and hacking the prison phone system while in solitary confinement. He describes spending a year in solitary after a prosecutor convinced a judge he could launch nuclear missiles by whistling into a pay phone, and later serving five years in custody after being tracked down in North Carolina.

Now a trusted security consultant, Kevin discusses modern threats including ransomware, tech support scams from overseas call centers, the Sony Pictures hack, and the massive Office of Personnel Management data breach. He explains why he remains skeptical that North Korea was behind the Sony attack and demonstrates how even major companies remain vulnerable to simple social engineering.