Books I'm Reading 10) Catch Me If You Can by Stan Redding and Frank W. Abagnale
http://www.amazon.com/Catch-Me-If-You-Can/dp/0767905385/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240584266&sr=8-5
I've been on this crime thing lately. Reading a couple of books by con artists, social engineers, and some books on things like cheating, how to bypass locks. I have no idea why this current topic hold fascination, but it does. The social engineering aspect for some reason is holding really big on me recently. I think it's because as I've been doing security research as a side/off-hours thing for work, the consistent thing I've come across is that you can't secure anything against stupid people. You can encrypt the fuck out of your data but one nimrod with a bic and post-it note can nullify the whole process.
So anyway, I just finished Frank W. Abignale's book. You'll recall the name, if the not the title from the move of same title starring Tom Hanks an Leonardo DiCaprio (spelling??? fuck it, I'm too lazy to go look on IMDB). It's actually a surprisingly good read. In part for the stories which I find amusing, and in part for the understanding you can get by being in someones head like that. There's an angle to things that I never quite see that seemed to come inherently to Abignale and it's just damn impressive. I do have to say though that I did a quick Google image search and if even half the women he mentions are even half as hot as he portrays in the book time has not been a friend. He must have looked very different in the late 60's. Or everyone was still stoned. Either way.
The book itself is a great look at something that I can't quite put my finger on yet. It's delving into the mind of someone who just views the world differently. and he keeps coming back to this idea of the doing it for the challenge of it. I get that. You don't necessarily commit crime for the crime or the payoff. I mean some people do, but in general you do things because it breaks the rules, because you have to find a way around the systems. This guy was like the ultimate human pen tester and it's a fucking impressive story.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I also like to think he squirreled away cass somewhere that the FBI, Scotland Yard, and everyone else didn't find. That somewhere, like the box left in the field at the end of Shawshank Redemption, he's got some cash stashed away so he could have gone off to zihuatanejo.
As far as the quality of the writing, I'm not impressed but neither am I left wanting. The story is told as a story, As a grandfather might tell his grandchildren about the past, about reflections from years ago. And it's told in a way that gives you just the little tidbits that, even though they may not matter now, provide those little details that completely make the story one that you can't ignore. This ain't a college book, unless maybe your in sociology (which he once taught under false credentials which tells me that universities will fucking hire ANYONE) or criminology. Andd if you're in the latter subject this is a must read. It gives you a view of the world which you're not going to get from your future training officer or ASAC.
I've been on this crime thing lately. Reading a couple of books by con artists, social engineers, and some books on things like cheating, how to bypass locks. I have no idea why this current topic hold fascination, but it does. The social engineering aspect for some reason is holding really big on me recently. I think it's because as I've been doing security research as a side/off-hours thing for work, the consistent thing I've come across is that you can't secure anything against stupid people. You can encrypt the fuck out of your data but one nimrod with a bic and post-it note can nullify the whole process.
So anyway, I just finished Frank W. Abignale's book. You'll recall the name, if the not the title from the move of same title starring Tom Hanks an Leonardo DiCaprio (spelling??? fuck it, I'm too lazy to go look on IMDB). It's actually a surprisingly good read. In part for the stories which I find amusing, and in part for the understanding you can get by being in someones head like that. There's an angle to things that I never quite see that seemed to come inherently to Abignale and it's just damn impressive. I do have to say though that I did a quick Google image search and if even half the women he mentions are even half as hot as he portrays in the book time has not been a friend. He must have looked very different in the late 60's. Or everyone was still stoned. Either way.
The book itself is a great look at something that I can't quite put my finger on yet. It's delving into the mind of someone who just views the world differently. and he keeps coming back to this idea of the doing it for the challenge of it. I get that. You don't necessarily commit crime for the crime or the payoff. I mean some people do, but in general you do things because it breaks the rules, because you have to find a way around the systems. This guy was like the ultimate human pen tester and it's a fucking impressive story.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I also like to think he squirreled away cass somewhere that the FBI, Scotland Yard, and everyone else didn't find. That somewhere, like the box left in the field at the end of Shawshank Redemption, he's got some cash stashed away so he could have gone off to zihuatanejo.
As far as the quality of the writing, I'm not impressed but neither am I left wanting. The story is told as a story, As a grandfather might tell his grandchildren about the past, about reflections from years ago. And it's told in a way that gives you just the little tidbits that, even though they may not matter now, provide those little details that completely make the story one that you can't ignore. This ain't a college book, unless maybe your in sociology (which he once taught under false credentials which tells me that universities will fucking hire ANYONE) or criminology. Andd if you're in the latter subject this is a must read. It gives you a view of the world which you're not going to get from your future training officer or ASAC.
posted by rpalmeira at 7:44 AM
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