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Title: CYBERPUNK: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, Revised by Katie Hafner ISBN: 0684818620 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.69
Rating: 2
Summary: Inaccurate, unengaging, and wildly libelous
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: Very Entertaining, But Only Half The Story
Comment: I read this book last summer and enjoyed it immensely. It's very well-written.
However, having just finished Jonathan Littman's "The Fugitive Game" I have to recommend reading both books to get the full story. Markoff's conflicts-of-interest and questionable journalistic practices aren't apparent from reading just "Cyberpunk." What appears to be a non-fiction account is, in reality, more complicated than that.... You really owe it to yourself to read both sides of the story.
So read this book and enjoy it for what it is -- and then read Littman for another perspective.
Rating: 5
Summary: Awesome, Awesome, AWESOME
Comment: This is absolutely the best hacker book up to date, regardless of how old its stories go. It goes in depth of describing the ill deception of the corpulant hacker, Kevin Mitnick, the curious and yet dangerous exploration of Pengo, and the tragedy of a Cornell genius, Robert Tappan Morris. This book is thrilling to the core, it doesn't mix in too much irrelevant information--everything is germane to the subject--, and it shows the shrewd tactics of social engineering, trashing, and pure hacking. The book is divided into three large sections: one on Kevin, one on Pengo, and the other on Robert Morris. Even if you are not interested in computer hacking, you should still read it! It just illustrates to you the dangers that lurk in the cryptic electronic world...FANTASTIC!!!!!
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Title: Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage by Clifford Stoll ISBN: 0743411463 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 03 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy ISBN: 0141000511 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 02 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Masters of Deception : Gang That Ruled Cyberspace, The by Michele Slatalla ISBN: 0060926945 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 1996 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Fugitive Game: Online With Kevin Mitnick by Jonathan Littman ISBN: 0316528692 Publisher: Little Brown & Co (Pap) Pub. Date: 1997 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
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Title: The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security by Kevin D. Mitnick, William L. Simon ISBN: 0471237124 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 04 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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