- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (27 Jan 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140177345
- ISBN-13: 978-0140177343
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.4 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 941,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
The American long-distance telephone network crashes, and millions of calls go unanswered. A computer hacker reprogrammes a switching station, and calls to a Florida probation office are shunted to a New York telephone-sex hotline. An underground computer bulletin board publishes a pilfered document on the 911 emergency system, making it available to anyone who dials. How did so much illicit power reach the hands of an undisciplined few - and what should be done about it? This book is about the electronic frontier of the 1990s. It concerns activities that take place inside computers and over telephone lines - "cyberspace". By the author of "Involution Ocean" and "The Artificial Kid" and the co-author of "The Difference Engine".
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is nearly 10 years old, yet it is still readable and relevant now. The fact that the technology named in it has long since been replaced by newer kit is more or less irrelevant to the book - Stirling guides you through a world you wouldn't otherwise be aware of without it seeming to actually revolve around times at all. Quite a feat for what is, essentially, a history book.
I read this online (it's freely distributable in electronic format under Stirling's contract with the publisher) and _then_ bought it, it was so good. In fact, I bought a couple of copies as gifts too.
Buy it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A well-paced piece of non-fiction journalistic writing. "Hacker Crackdown" is paced for non-technical readers with little knowledge of the internet, but it contains enough detail of the cases involved to interest anyone.
It is a little old now though and what's described is mainly of historical interest when considering the modern net.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In early 1990, the US national telephone system was struck by a fault that brought down large parts of the network for several hours. We now know that this was caused by a fairly prosaic programming error that was further compounded by a lack of testing before new software was installed. At the time, this was not known and many people involved in law enforcement in the US feared that the attack was the result of the activities of a group of computer hackers.
These circumstances led to an extraordinary sequence of events. The authorities launched action against many in and on the periphery of the hacking world. As is normally the case in these situations, not everyone targetted was involved in the activities against which the actions were directed.
Bruce Sterling, well known as a modern SF author became aware of this and was spurred into investigating the investigation and writing a book about the events of the Hacker Crackdown. This book is the result.
It is a very fine book. The writing is a lucid as you would expect from a professional author but the investigation too is a fine piece of work. As well as detailing the events, the author tells the story of the people involved in the operation. As a result, we get a picture of the players on both sides as well as the game.
Of course, several years on, many of the technical details of the story seem quaint but this does not detract from the fact that the book tells an interesting story very well. It also raises a number of questions about the vulnerabilities arising from the internet era and the way in which society attempts to defend itself.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Gripping and disturbing
Sterling is most famous for his sci-fi novels, but he's also a supremely accomplished techno-journalist, as this work testifies. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mark Hurst
Acurate book from a REAL history!
The book is great in describing all facts and happenings around operation sundevil. Sterling explains in great depth the origin of phrack and all the way up to the e911 document... Read more
Published on 26 Nov 1999
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