DarkMarket: Cyberthieves, Cybercops And You (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
There's something off about this book, and I can't decide whether or not it's even Misha Glenny's fault. The guys involved with DarkMarket seem as vapid as the generic screen names they choose for themselves, so, in lieu of anything resembling a compelling character, technology itself steps in as the book's default protagonist. Glenny tries his best to frame the story as an international true crime thriller, but the chain of micro-events is stacked against him. Still, he does a good job of explaining how these internet savvy criminals are exploiting global techno-capitalism.Since all of the greatest hits in human activity increasingly manifest themselves as sitting at a keyboard or thumbing through a phone, it only makes sense that crime would follow suit. As a criminal odyssey full of fascinating deviance and ill fated adventure, this book is indigestible. What is actually interesting and important here are the widening loopholes in the banking system and the ease with which they can be exploited by any computer literate person with the will to do so. Glenny explains very clearly how banking and insurance businesses factor in the cost of fraud and pass it on to customers, and also why solving these crimes is often next to impossible. And yet, by Glenny's description, most of the individual actors in this saga seemed largely unaware of how much power they actually had. Most seemed to have little to do with the money that their carding scams netted, and were much more concerned with the hyper-fluid hierarchy within their online subculture. There was seldom any real mission, only method. Glenny gives the impression that many of them were quite shocked to actually get busted, not merely because they'd thought never to get caught, but because the online world where they spent all of their waking hours was so totally immersive that the offline world became an afterthought.The book probably could have retained its most engrossing and informative parts at about half its length. For that matter, a different, more serious study of its implications would surely have been a better use of time. For instance, what does it mean when a crime wave of such colossal proportions can occur with such scant human drama? This was an easy read which was actually a disappointment as I was expecting something a bit more serious and less like a novel. It was a little dumbed down which I think is unnecessary with the younger audience who surely know what the internet is but need to understand more about the dangers of using your credit card. There were a lot of characters and I occasionally got lost between remembering thier real name and thier virtual identity. There were a few loose ends but I can live with that.I think the thing that bothered me most was the fact that everything was based on 200+ hours interviews. Where was the factual corroboration? Maybe it was there or maybe it was just cross checking the stories. Anyway, it left me a little suspicious of the veracity of the whole story, especially of the Turkish and Slavic skimmers. I think that the book would have also benefited from even more detail and examples of how you can loose your credit card data to the bad guys.
What do You think about DarkMarket: Cyberthieves, Cybercops And You (2011)?
Decent enough book. Makes you want to avoid using your credit cards ever again.
—IQRA
Well written and engaging as well as alarming.
—rcyr0813
