The capture of the notorious computer outlaw Kevin Mitnick on the evening of February 14, 1995, brought to an end one of the most dramatic and bizarre crime sprees in recent times. Mitnick had become the most wanted hacker in history by stealing millions of dollars worth of information from government, corporate, and university computer systems and had successfully outwitted Federal authorities for more than two years. But on Christmas Day he had made a fatal mistake when he launched a raid on the home system of brilliant computer security expert Tsutomu Shimomura - and inadvertently fired the first volley in a seven-week battle that would be waged across an entire continent - a battle that was ultimately fought for the soul of the Internet.Takedown is Tsutomu Shimomura's own riveting account of the story that has already become a real-life epic for the Information Age - a classic manhunt that, instead of being carried out on crowded urban streets or backcountry roads, is conducted over telephone wires. Angered by the attack on his computer - which is soon followed by a series of threatening phone calls and the malicious scattering of his personal files throughout the internet - Shimomura sets out to learn the identity of his mysterious intruder, armed only with his expertise and an array of high-tech weaponry. With careful forensic work he uncovers a trail of clues that suggests that his quarry is not just a nuisance with a modem, but the "Dark-Side Hacker" himself - a fact that becomes clear when, thanks to an ingenious use of software, Shimomura and the support team he has assembled are able to electronically eavesdrop on an online conversation in which Mitnick reveals himself. Read Less