Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, Revised: Amazon.ca: Katie Hafner: Books

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A classic look into cracker subculture, Cyberpunk tells the stories of notorious hackers Kevin Mitnick, Robert T. Morris, and the Chaos Computer Club. Like Where Wizards Stay Up Late, the book Hafner co-wrote on the origins of the Internet, Cyberpunk is informative, well-written, and entertaining. The story of Morris, who became infamous for unleashing a crippling worm that brought the Internet to a grinding standstill, is still as relevant and ominous today as it was at the time. The space devoted to Mitnick is a must-read companion to either Takedown or The Fugitive Game. Many of the stories surrounding the Dark Side Hacker, such as the story of his Norad break-in, are called into question in Cyberpunk, making this book a good launching pad for many different accounts of the Mitnick legend. The portrait of the two members of the Chaos Computer Club is a memorable look into the minds of the younger generation of computer hackers. Before you check out any book of this genre, read Cyberpunk.

From Publishers Weekly

The spirit of cyberpunk only flickers in these three more-or-less able pieces of journalism about headline hacker cases that shook the computer industry. The authors' straightforward style serves the topic well, and portraits of the hackers' personalities are tantalizingly good. But the programming jargon invoked suggests little of the "outlaw" mentality that converts programming talent into hacking. The only case that really earns the title is "Pengo and the Project Equalizer," the story of a West Berlin punk turned hacker, which contains enough exotic characters to cast a miniseries. Hafner is a computer reporter for the New York Times ; Markoff is a former Business Week reporter.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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It was partnership, if not exactly friendship, that kept the group together. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

33 Reviews

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3.7 out of 5 stars (33 customer reviews)

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1.0 out of 5 stars On the Outside Looking In., Jan 13 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, Revised (Paperback)

Although Markoff is an exceptional writer and the book is both easy to read and entertaining, the content is presented as factual when the truth is that these guys definitely wrote the book with only part of the whole story at their disposal. One of the main "cyberpunks" depicted in the book is Kevin Mitnick, who claims that he has never even met John Markoff. How can the book fairly and accurately speak to the topic of hacking during the early days of the Internet revolution when they never did any investigations with real "hackers"? The story is told only from a law enforcement point-of-view. I am sure that the Rodney King story is told differently by King than the LAPD. Same goes for this case.

Like many works today that seem to be written for financial reasons, it seems very one-sided and sensational.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Inaccurate, unengaging, and wildly libelous, July 6 2002

By

Gabriel Rasa (Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, Revised (Paperback)

First off, John Markoff does NOT tell an unbiased story, especially regarding the Mitnick case. Kevin Mitnick, preferring to keep a low profile, has not promoted his own story, and as a result he has had his name slandered by mediawhores like Markoff. Markoff traveled extensively with Tsutomu Shimomura, the security expert who eventually (and with much government aid) apprehended Mitnick. It is quite clear whose side he is on as he repeatedly demonizes Mitnick as a fat, malicious, juvenile person with no self-control and no respect for anyone else. This typecasting is quite understandable though, once you know that Markoff has a share in the Miramax movie Takedown that details Mitnick's capture. Nobody wants to see such unfair treatment happen to a real, sympathetic person. (Takedown, incidentally, is more slanderous than Cyberpunk and from which the real Kevin Mitnick, whom it is based on, is not getting a dime).

But apart from my distaste for Markoff, this book still failed to be a interesting read. I enjoy reading about the early history of hacking, etc, so I bought it with high hopes. The only reason I didn't put it down was because it was my only reading material on a six hour bus trip. The Internet revolution was fascinating and the people involved in it were interesting, dynamic people. But to hear Markoff tell it, everyone was petty, whining, insecure, and one-dimensional, with no other motivation than to cause trouble for others. He hasn't got a gift for writing novels with well-rounded and interesting characters that the reader can actually sympathize with and care about.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history lesson..., April 24 2002

By

Edward J. Branley (Metairie, LA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, Revised (Paperback)

The tales in this book are old ones now. Mitnick's escapades continued on to more infamous heights than this book, as the new epilogue explains. Having grown up working with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) computers, the descriptions of Mitnick's hacking on PDP-11 and VAX systems was like a dark-side of my high school days. Having worked at Radio Shack just after graduating college, I knew a lot of "phreakers" who worshipped the people mentioned in the book.

I teach classes for computer professionals in UNIX. One of the courses is a 2-day class in unix security, and the "Morris worm" is one of the case studies we discuss. We don't go into too much detail in the class on the subject, and I usually recommend this book for those who want to go further.

The other reason I recommend this book to students in my class is the story (in Kevin's section) of Susan Thunder. The concept of "social engineering" is one that transcends computer model, operating system version, etc. Many computer types just don't understand it, in the same way they don't understand office politics. If you fall into this category, or if you have an interest in the social side of hacking/cracking/phreaking, Hafner and Markoff do an excellent job of presenting these concepts.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars True entertainment
I bought this book because I was interested in human aspects of these stories (RTM especially), more than the technical side. I found it very satisfying, and more. Read more

Published on Feb 7 2002 by G. Avvinti

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Entertaining
I found this book very entertaining, couldn't put it down until it was done. Since I started fooling with computers back in the days of the Commodore 64 and before the mainstream... Read more

Published on Dec 13 2001 by Tim Patterson