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Read The Hacker Crackdown: Law And Disorder On The Electronic Frontier (1993)

The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier (1993)

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3.85 of 5 Votes: 2
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ISBN
055356370X (ISBN13: 9780553563702)
Language
English
Publisher
bantam

The Hacker Crackdown: Law And Disorder On The Electronic Frontier (1993) - Plot & Excerpts

When ‘The Hacker Crackdown’ - written by the cyberpunk novelist Bruce Sterling – was released in 1992, it was a hugely acclaimed journalistic study of the cyberspace of the late 80s and early 90s detailing the affairs and people who have influenced this chaotic electronic frontier. Written during a period when the modern day Internet was taking it’s first steps, this book is a historic chronicle of the outlaw culture of the electronic frontier right from it’s beginner days, and inspects the series of criminal activities that plunged this frontier into chaos and law enforcement activities that were set in motion to counter these criminal activities. This is a book, which stands at par with ‘Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution’ written in 1984 while dissecting and presenting the hacker subculture. It is one of those early books that discussed criminals on the cyber world; cyber crimes; the shortcomings and frustrations of traditional law enforcement agencies in effectively curbing these computer crimes; the emergence of various special task forces aimed at defending against this serious threat; the first civil liberties movements on the cyberspace and the ethics and legal issues connected to the countering of cyber crimes. By delving deep into the world of actual participants in these activities – both from the criminal and law enforcement side – the author has created a pretty accurate historical snapshot of the 90s electronic frontier which was thriving with multitudes of characters like hackers, rebels, outlaws, cops, cybercops, cyber civil rights activists and bureaucrats. Since this is a book from the early 1990s - when we consider the lightning speed in which modern Information Technology & Internet got evolved and is still evolving - most of the technology and concepts that it describes are outdated but from a historical perspective this is a great read for those who are interested in the evolution of computer crime, cyber civil liberties movements and cyberspace in general.

It's almost two decades old at this point, so, well, it's dated. But it's so excellently written, and it covers such a wide range of topics. It also has a whole lot of that early 90s cyberpunk-hacker spirit that I can't help but feel a bit of nostalgia here.That said, it covers rather well some of the first battles pitched over civil liberties on-line in US courts, and the resulting founding of EFF and other such groups. Two decades later, it's a fascinating artifact of its time.It does tend to fly all over the map; it feels less like a book than a collection of clippings and thoughts. It would have made a very interesting blog, had blogs existed in 1991. But it's absolutely worth reading, and it's kind of surprising how many of these issues we're still struggling over today.

What do You think about The Hacker Crackdown: Law And Disorder On The Electronic Frontier (1993)?

SummaryThe Hacker Crackdown is a dated piece of work, but is a good historical record of the development of hackers, phreakers, and their nearly immediate bond with the telecommunications systems. This records how both groups grew and evolved together and how law enforcement tried to keep up. Outlining some of the more famous outages, pranks, and legal issues of the time. You can find this same information in other books, but this book does a good job at keeping the events chronological and focuses on the telephony side, not just the hacker side. I think this is an essential desk reference for any Info Security professional.
—Kana

Bruce Sterling's classic work highlights the 1990 assault on hackers, when law-enforcement officials successfully arrested scores of suspected illicit hackers and other computer-based law-breakers. These raids became symbolic of the debate between fighting serious computer crime and protecting civil liberties. However, The Hacker Crackdown is about far more than a series of police sting operations. It's a lively tour of three cyberspace subcultures--the hacker underworld, the realm of the cybercops, and the idealistic culture of the cybercivil libertarians./ Sterling begins his story at the birth of cyberspace: the invention of the telephone. We meet the first hackers--teenage boys hired as telephone operators--who used their technical mastery, low threshold for boredom, and love of pranks to wreak havoc across the phone lines. From phone-related hi-jinks, Sterling takes us into the broader world of hacking and introduces many of the culprits--some who are fighting for a cause, some who are in it for kicks, and some who are traditional criminals after a fast buck. Sterling then details the triumphs and frustrations of the people forced to deal with the illicit hackers and tells how they developed their own subculture as cybercops. Sterling raises the ethical and legal issues of online law enforcement by questioning what rights are given to suspects and to those who have private e-mail stored on suspects' computers. Additionally, Sterling shows how the online civil liberties movement rose from seemingly unlikely places, such as the counterculture surrounding the Grateful Dead. The Hacker Crackdown informs you of the issues surrounding computer crime and the people on all sides of those issues./
—Jarrodtrainque

Wow. I hadn't realized that I must have read this very shortly after it came out. Goodreads says it was published in hardback in November of 1992, and I'm almost positive I'd read it by Christmas.It's much too long ago for me to remember, but there is a distinct possibility that another mutual acquaintance of ours recommended it to me--Andy Wilson, who was familiar with Bruce Sterling thanks to the latter's collaborations with William Gibson.Andy pushed me to read Neuromancer, too. Alas, that one did not have the impact on me that it did on lots of folks.What can I say? I'm a nonfic bigot. And this was a good one.Ah, the innocent days when I thought "KORN SHELL" (rendered in all caps in Bell South's legal briefs and thus in Sterling's book) sounded exotic.Was I ever so young? Yes, yes, I was.
—G. Branden

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