Average Users Monthly Vol 1 Issue 1 - FILE 1
Computer Book Review
The Hacker Crackdown: Law and disorder on the electronic frontier.
By: Bruce Sterling
Bruce Sterling, widely accomplished author of many books and short stories, has outdone himself on this, his latest book. THE HACKER CRACKDOWN is a book generally based around the American police and FBI arrests of several individuals in 1990. Many issues were raised in the book regarding such things as the ethics during the raids of homes and businesses involved in computer crimes. It asks the questions: "Are what these 'Hackers' doing illegal?" "How does one protect him/herself from 'Hackers'?" "How does one protect him/herself when the police crash through your door rightly or wrongly?"
Generally, it is a very intriguing and binding read. It only took me 3 days to traverse the 300+ pages, glued to it at every second I could spare. I was only a little disappointed in a few minor instances. Firstly, Bruce spoke very little of the Legion of Doom (LoD) arrests, and generally, didn't have much information on the 'hackers' themselves. I was appalled at the way fellow electronic publisher Craig Neidorf (Knight Lightning) of PHRACK magazine was treated, but Bruce simply didn't go into enough detail about what happened.
Above all, it was *NOT* a police-bashing novel, defending the 'hackers' all the way. Law enforcement was given the benefit of the doubt in most cases, and the many vehicles of the american governments justice system as well. The only point that was made in the book regarding law enforcement that I disagreed with is that "The law is one step ahead of the computer criminals and they will remain that way." Let me explain that this was said in an interview with an official, not by Bruce himself. I agree that they would be one step ahead, simply because they know what could possibly be broken into, however, it has generally been seen that the side of "good" is lax on security, giving the side of "bad" an advantage every time.
Further on in the magazine is a short text written by Bruce prior to the release of his book. It deals with the Steve Jackson Games raid and lawsuit. For further reading on this topic, please see Computer Underground Digests #510-516.
In closing, I highly recommend reading this book, if only for the entertainment value. It isn't a 'how to' handbook for the would be 'hacker', it's a fair and unbiased account of the happenings during the arrests made and the following court cases after the 1990 'hacker' crackdown. I applaud the fact that computer crime is finally coming to an honest light, not being blown out of proportion, and that finally, we can all UNDERSTAND it.
Reviewed By: Todd Clayton.
