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melhara's review
informative
3.5
This was an interesting book documenting the history of hacking/'cyber war' from the internet boom up until now. My review summarizes some of the most interesting points I've learned from this book.
The book primarily focuses on the history of the hacking culture that originated in Yugoslavia, as well as how that translates to the cyber war that is currently in place and how it's used in the war efforts between Ukraine and Russia.
The book primarily focuses on the history of the hacking culture that originated in Yugoslavia, as well as how that translates to the cyber war that is currently in place and how it's used in the war efforts between Ukraine and Russia.
Where militaries move slowly, hackers move fast.
Much of the first half of the book discusses the Yugoslavian politically organized crime activities, the influence of science fiction that turned this Communist country into a high-tech industrial hub as early as 1962 (in fact, "the very word 'robot' is Slavic in origin - it is the root of the word for 'work' across most of Eastern Europ - and originated in the 1920 science-fiction play by Czech writer Karel Čapek, RUR-Rossum's Universal Robots"). It was also during that time period that the Yugoslavian government proclaimed the need to teach children to code and create cyber citizens and cyber warriors. And so, by the late 90s (in the age of dial-up and costly internet for the rest of the world), the Yugoslavian government started providing completely free, unlimited internet for everyone in the country. This meant that many of the earliest hackers hailed from Yugoslavia and consisted of tech-savvy kids and teenagers. Before long, hacker culture exploded in Eastern Europe and hackers became celebrities that were often featured in magazines, radio, and television. Hacking American or Western government websites became a sport during a time when the legal ramifications of this type of activity were still uncertain as the technology and world of the internet were still relatively new. Universities would even host and broadcast hackathons targeting American cyberspace.
The government also saw potential in recruiting young hackers to sow memetic warfare and share easily consumable click-bait disinformation, propaganda, and conspiracy theories as a cyber-war tactic. It started recruiting and training hackers from all over, including from other communist countries. Before long, China also developed a similar system and
In 2006, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences surveyed five thousand Chinese primary schoolchildren about their ambitions and dreams. An astonishing 43 percent of those interviewed said they "adored" China's hackers, while 33 percent old the researchers that they "dreamed of becoming a hacker someday." One student said, "Hackers are very cool. Hackers leave people an impression of high intelligence, and are able to do whatever they like and get whatever secrets they want. That is what I lack but dream of."
I was 12 in 2006 and had no idea what "hacking" was. The extent of my internet knowledge was playing games on Neopets and how to conduct research on YahooKids for my assignments. The fact kids of the same age in other countries were learning coding while I was learning how to type and use search engines is mind-blowing.
Finally, I learned about how Ukrainian hackers and other hackers from around the world in support of Ukraine have been hacking into Russia's command chain and communications systems and sending confusing orders. They would also send them incorrect directions and mapping coordinates, and cat-fish Russian soldiers on Tinder in attempts to seduce for information. Hackers would also hack into the Russian media outlets to share on-the-ground footage of the destruction and war in Ukraine to better inform Russian citizens.
This book offers many fascinating examples of the impacts of cyber-warfare.
Though the information was interesting, I honestly wasn't the biggest fan of the writing - it was a bit over-the-top and seemed to be written in a cinematic way that would make for a great binge-worthy docu-series because the book was written in a thrilling and over-dramatic way with each chapter ending in a cliffhanger of sorts.
In fact, despite the bibliography citing various news sources and books, I wasn't sure I was reading a non-fiction novel at first because the introductory chapter felt like something straight out of a suspense-thriller novel making me second guess whether or not the content in this book is believable.
Here are some examples of (non-spoiler-y) cliffhanger paragraphs or sentences from some of the chapters in this book that make the writing and content seem over-exaggerated:
Introduction -
This is a story about that conflict, and where and how it started, and why it spread to become the dominant mode of war in today's world. It's also a story about that decision by NATO to cover up the damage, to kick the can down the road at the critical time. And what the decision cost us.
Chapter 1 -
And then, suddenly, everything went wrong.
Chapter 6 -
...it would come back to haunt the United States.
Chapter 8 -
But things would not calm down.
Chapter 10 -
And this one was just getting started.
Chapter 14 -
And they were about to get their taste of hot war.
Chapter 17 -
When China began hothousing cyber warriors, it would do so in a way nowhere else on earth could even begin to imagine.
Chapter 21 (final chapter) -
We are all targets.
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