Book details of 'The Hacker Crackdown : Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier'

Title	The Hacker Crackdown : Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier
Author(s)	Bruce Sterling
ISBN	055356370X
Language	English
Published	December 1993
Publisher	Bantam Books

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The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'The Hacker Crackdown : Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier':

Reviewer Koos van den Hout wrote:
Bruce Sterling writes about the big law enforcement operations in the 1990s against the at that time active hacker-groups. It is interesting to re-read this book years later. Seeing what has changed in technology, and seeing that law enforcement has learned things about new technologies. Bruce describes very well what happened, from all sides (he interviewed the hackers, the cops involved, the lawyers and activists that stood up and other people). He admits at a certain point in the book that he has switched from being an observer to being actively involved.
Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
It is important to keep in mind that the crackdown of the title refers to a specific incident: the series of raids in 1990 by various United States law enforcement agencies which tend to be collectively, if incorrectly, subsumed under the code name, "Operation Sundevil". The book brings together a number of the stories surrounding this event, as well as giving some background, particularly in regard to AT&T and the US Secret Service. There are, however, significant gaps which prevent it from being an overall analysis of either the cracker/phone phreak culture or the data security/law enforcement community. As an overview of the 1990 raids, the book is entertaining, often informative, and generally well written. Digressions often provide very interesting background, although at times they consume entire chapters without much bearing on the central issues. Those who were around for the electronic discussions of the 1990 raids will possibly be glad of the collection of all the stories into one place. (Those who have dealt with the crackers, phone phreaks and wannabes will readily recognize some of the descriptions, as well as the repeated emphasis on braggadocio as a primary character trait.) Although Sterling is aware of the debate over the term "hacker"; indeed, he worries over contributing to the degradation of the term; he does not distinguish between the various communities of electronic outlaws. In fact, he states, at one point, that all are the same. Similarly, his contacts with law enforcement and data security people are limited. For these reasons, the book is not useful as a general introduction to the field. The writing is highly opinionated. The US-centric view of technology borders on jingoism. In general, neither law enforcement nor the cracking communities are seen with any favour. Although we can sympathize with Sterling's motivation in wanting to bring to light the injustice done to his friend, the extreme sarcasm which cloaks most of the first half of the book makes it difficult to understand what point he is trying to make. For those involved in data security, a very entertaining read. For newcomers, please take it with a very large grain of salt.
Reviewer Koos van den Hout wrote:
In 1990 things changed for hackers. Forever. Law enforcement suddenly became very active and raided lots of hackers. Law enforcement made errors. This book describes from phone phreaks to network hackers and how things never will be the same. Good one.
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