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spyder_trauma_rose's review against another edition
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
4.0
Good book. It feels oddly timeless despite the near constant references to the technology being used dating it incredibly to the late eighties. The narrator dances on the cliff of being just a little too cute in how he expresses himself, but as the story goes on, bits of genuine grit show themselves.
It's also real. The main narrative ends rather anti-climatically for how insanely it spirals afterward.
It's also real. The main narrative ends rather anti-climatically for how insanely it spirals afterward.
lillyrb's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
4.0
This was a surprisingly exciting read. Of course a lot of the technological descriptions of connections etc. are outdated nowadays, but the descriptions of the mechanics the hacker was using and what was used to track the guy was quite fascinating. The involvement of all the three letter agencies is also absolutely baffling and I find it quite funny how by publishing this book the author kind of supports his radical left viewpoints since it paints a really quite depressing picture of how the processes inside the agencies work. Quite striking how most of the individual agents we meet are interesting and ‘fun’ (?) people, but they’re stuck in an inflexible system. The book also definitely teaches a lesson about the importance of cybersecurity and its an interesting historical narrative reading it in the 21st century. I doubt anyone doing important work doesn’t take computer security serious nowadays. I also like the conclusion Cliff comes to of how he is able to justify his own involvement despite his political views; the fact that in order to keep having open and collaborative networks, exploitation of that openness has to be taken seriously. That’s applicable to many things in life. Anyways, would definitely recommend it to people interested in computers in one way or another. My only “critique” is that there’s quite a lot about the author’s relationship in there, and initially I understood the point that it illustrated how this was becoming a huge inconvenience to his personal life and yet he kept at it. But at many points it was a bit much for my own personal tastes, felt a bit misplaced in the rest of the story and I felt like I was invading their relationship because it was unexpected to hear so much about it. It does provide a human connection throughout the book though.
harry_leggs's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
linuxlibrarian's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
fast-paced
5.0
Great book about the early days of hacking.
jingntonic's review against another edition
3.0
It’s a detailed book about an surprisingly gripping journey of one astronomer’s trek through an early iteration of the internet to hunt down a group of hackers — he was originally tipped off because of a 75 cent accounting error.
The level of documentation is impressive, the techniques are still sensible, and the meta commentary on the easiest ways of hack a system and the need for security and privacy first product design still ring true.
Unlike other reviewers, I enjoyed the tidbits about the author’s personal life. It added texture to the story that kept me engaged because the author, as well as the people he interacted with, are deeply human even as they’re operating within the confines of their context (as we all do).
The level of documentation is impressive, the techniques are still sensible, and the meta commentary on the easiest ways of hack a system and the need for security and privacy first product design still ring true.
Unlike other reviewers, I enjoyed the tidbits about the author’s personal life. It added texture to the story that kept me engaged because the author, as well as the people he interacted with, are deeply human even as they’re operating within the confines of their context (as we all do).