Ghost in

Genius comes in many forms. Kevin Mitnick has at least two forms, neither particularly admirable.

As he portrays himself in "Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker," Mitnick possesses a rare ability to penetrate sophisticated computer systems. Even greater than his technical skills, it turns out, is his ability to manipulate people, particularly the corporate drones who held the door open for his invasions.

Time and again, Mitnick was able to con people into delivering astonishing rewards: software source codes, lists of passwords, access to supposedly hardened systems.

In the years since his 2000 release from federal prison, Mitnick has become a computer-security consultant and speaker. Still, he can't hide a whiff of -- pride? nostalgia? -- for the depredations that landed him in the clink.

He got started early, figuring out how to game the Los Angeles bus system as an alienated 1970s teenager. In time, Mitnick graduated to out-and-out hacking, and the rise of PCs, wireless phones and the Internet opened enormous new vistas for his activities.

In a typical episode, he tricks a Pacific Bell security employee into confirming that wiretaps have been placed on his father's lines, then gains the ability to listen in on other taps by figuring out that the phone company never changed the "12345678" default password.

Let Mitnick be indignant at his press coverage; "Ghost in the Wires" provides more than enough examples of his guilt, in human relations even more than with computers. His book is full of sad people he treats badly, starting with his almost pathologically supportive mother and, most notably, his wife, who loses him to his computer pursuits, then takes up with his closest friend and hacking partner, Lewis De Payne.