Author: Joseph Menn
As a relative newcomer into the cybersecurity arena, this was a welcome backstory of all the hactivism of the last two or three decades. It helped me relive some of the stories like “Back Orifice” which I was only peripherally aware of a long time ago. I learnt that the Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) was the origin of many of these white hat organizations that helped us stay one step ahead of the bad guys. From the book I gathered that they were more of a “performance art group” than the traditional security technologist, although they did have several of those in their midst. Towards the end, they crossed paths with Julian Assange and other folks associated with WikiLeaks.
I found it difficult to follow the story as it arced through the different organizations like cDc Ninja Strike Force, L0pht, Legion of Doom, Masters of Deception and @stake. I couldn’t tell what their relationship to cDc or the story was. I also felt that the author relied very heavily on the members of cDc for this narrative and consequently it comes across as a relatively one-sided book. To get another perspective, read the review from C. Thomas on Amazon.
In summary, I wouldn’t recommend this book unless you have a particular desire to learn about the history of cybersecurity.
No comments:
Post a Comment