No Tech Hacking

No Tech Hacking: A Guide to Social Engineering, Dumpster Diving, and Shoulder Surfing (~US$39 from Amazon, when in stock) looks like an interesting new book by Johnny Long, famous for his earlier book Google Hacking, and Kevin Mitnick, famous for the hacking exploits that landed him in jail and his earlier books The Art of Deception and The Art of Intrusion.

According to an interview in CSO Magazine, Johnny describes himself as a Christian hacker with plans to get the hacker community involved in charitable work. His writing reveals that he surely understands the Dark Side but, on the other hand, he does indeed openly promote the classical hacker ethic. Still, I'm quite sure Johnny would be the first to agree that social engineering and other hacker techniques could be classified as "dual use".

Kevin Mitnick clearly has Dark Side experience on his CV but, like Johnny, has achieved a lot without getting too deep into the technology.

I haven't read the book yet but it's on my Christmas wishlist (hint hint Santa).