Hackers: Crime in the Digital Sublime
Paul A. Taylor

 

Overview


Book Cover

As the Internet migrates into the average household, a greater number of users with varying levels of computer skills will use the Internet to satisfy their information and consumer needs. Although the 'ubiquitous medium' affords great convenience, the exchange of valuable, private consumer and business information is open to potential theft. Whether it is the inexperienced user looking to purchase Christmas toys on-line or the eager business looking for the next sale, information security becomes a hot topic, as the integrity of data must be protected from the experienced programmer looking for the next 'hack'.

The term 'hacker' has gained considerable negative attention in recent years. As many computer systems are broken or hacked into, the blame for the loss or exposure of sensitive and valuable data is often placed on the hacker community. "Fear, ignorance and vulnerability", unfortunately, have handicapped potential gains made by both organizations and authorities. Until both parties understand the importance of information security as well as significance of the hacker culture, they will continue to remain at the mercy of those who willingly bestow it.

Hackers: Crime in the Digital Sublime addresses many of these issues by giving an in-depth view of the mysterious culture and lives of hackers. This book is not intended for administrators to get step-by-step procedures for securing their systems; instead, it serves as both, a great introduction for those curious about the 'hype' behind these invisible and mysterious people, as well as a primer for general and public security awareness.

Layout

The book is broken up into eight chapters:

  1. Them and us: the hack
  2. Hacking culture
  3. The motivations of hackers
  4. State of the industry
  5. Them and us: the hawks and doves
  6. The professionalisation process
  7. The construction of computer ethics
  8. Conclusion

The book begins with hacking from a definition-like and historical point-of-view. The background sets the tone for the development of key points delivered. Overall, it does a good job of transitioning from presentation to the addressing of issues. It ends up closing key points

 

Critique

Like Ebert and Roper, when evaluating movies, you have to keep in mind who the intended audience is. This book is not a HOWTO; it is more like a README.

I 'really' enjoyed the 'real' interviews with 'real' hackers. Real aliases and quotes gave a pseudo-sense of 'history in the making'.

Another strong point of the book: its apparent unbiased approach to presenting the facts. Presenting the facts makes readers less apt to 'putting up their guard'; the subject of hacking seems one of negative presumed credibility - always a factor when media puts the questioning spotlight on the unknown. The unknown does not necessarily mean bad; as a matter of fact, the book does a good job in distinguishing the good from the bad. Looking at a historical account of the transgression of the word:

"…three generations of hackers who exhibited to various degrees qualities associated with the hacking's original connotation of playful ingenuity epitomized by the earliest hackers, the pioneering computer aficionados at MIT's laboratories in the 1950s and 1960s. These aficionados formed the first generation fo hackers defined as those who were involved in the development of the earliest computer-programming techniques. The second generation are defined as those involved in bringing computer hardware to the masses with the development of the earliest PCs. The third generation refers to the programmers who became the leading lights in the advent of computer games architecture. The phrase hacker is now almost exclusively used to describe an addition to the schema: the fourth gneration of hackers who illicitly access other people's computers."

I also enjoyed capturing underlying motif of good versus evil persistent throughout the book. The constant struggle of 'ethical' hackers seem to always seems to come on the forefront. These hackers always seem to make it a point to point out that the nature of their work is both ethical and necessary for the advancement of technology. Landreth, a cited hacker, shows respect for other people's property and information in stating:

"We were explorers, not spies, and to us, damaging computer files was not only clumsy and inelegant - it was wrong."

The analogy to the good versus evil conflict is somewhat reminecent of an old basketball coach cliche:

"We drew closer together in the face of adversity."

...because 'bad' hackers are out there, we know we have to protect ourselves. Adversity, the potential for damage, must be overcome by increased security measures. 'Good' hackers kind of remind me of the Darth Vader and Luke relationship; Vader knew he was the father. Luke didn't know he was the father, just a bad guy, until he proved his initial judgment wrong in the end.